FamilyAC Roleplayers; Horizons

Beta Phase: Currently in Alpha. Closed Beta begins Q3 2001 - Open Beta begins November 2001.

Estimated Release: Summer 2002.

Game Genre: MMORPG

POI: Playable Races, PvP System, Graphics, Skill System, Guild System, Mounts, Family and Languages.

Horizons

It's a grand ol' time for those of us who love MMORPG's, especially as the competition between the developers is high at the moment, with each vying to be the market leaders. The end result is a whole array of top-class games for us to scratch our chins about in contemplation, with a choice of which to play almost as vast in scope and numbers as the possibilities within each. There are a stout handful which rise above the rest and perch proudly on the Cliff-Face along side those few other greats which pave the way for years to come, while the average games leap over the edge like so many lemmings for a few brief moments of glory before being lost to antiquity. Horizons is without a doubt set to be one of those games which sets the standards for MMORPG's for many years to come. IMHO it is set to be the most elaborate and spectacular of all second-generation MMORPG's (UO, EQ and AC being the First-Generation), with graphics which have everyone in a dazed bewilderment somewhere between dreamstate and reality, with pillow-dribble to boot. So what grounds do I have to make such wild presumptions on Artifact Entertainment's divine creation? Well, I couldn't possibly explain it all, but I will try to ease you upon this marvellous game so you might judge for yourself.

Bid Your Spouse Farewell

It's a strange feeling I have; knowing that there will be painfully empty months before the chance arises where testing Horizons becomes a possibility. Then to know that once gameplay is initiated, I am condemned to spend a large part of my existance in the land of Istaria, fighting for good and risking all I have worked for. Is that worth trading in my life, friends, family, luscious tan, hygene, posture, muscle-mass, job and sanity for?

Hell yeah! Show me where to sign, because seeing what Artifact Entertainment have been creating in their forge in the mountains, the success of Horizons is inevitable, so let's look at some of the small things which make the bigger picture, starting with playable characters.

At the moment there are 15 races available to choose from, ranging from the Humans, Dwarves, Elves and Orcs through to Vampires, Demons, Angels, and even Dragons. It's amusingly important to take into account the advantages and disadvantages of each race when deciding which to be. While a Dragon might seem an obvious choice, they are difficult to build up and weak for quite some time compared to other races, though once you have been looking after your Dragon for a good many months, you'll notice the strengths starting to kick in. An ancient Dragon is probably one of the most powerful races as far as combat goes, but then any race can be the best at combat, it just depends on how you go about building your character and how smart you are in a battle. A major disadvantage which occurs with Dragons is that they cannot use weapons or armour, which takes a big bite out of the character's adaptability to any given situation. Of course, they have extremely powerful magic and melee abilities, and can fly great distances. Did I say fly? oh.. well, yes, there is flight in Horizons :) Angels and Demons are two other examples of races which can fly, though their ability to do so is less than that of a Dragon.

The total amount of character slots will be subject to change, but will be 5 at the minimum. Also there will be a variety of special servers, each with different game settings. These will be available at the same monthly rate as the normal servers, and current plans point towards a single character server and others with variable amounts of PvP interaction available. More servers will be introduced depending how popular and feasable they'll be.

Spare a Crust, Guv'nor?

You'll need to make sure your character is well fed if you plan on world domination. Packing fresh undies is optionable but advised. There are two ways of eating.. Firstly, food will be eaten automatically by the character when it's needed. The second method is by clicking on it. Also there are two attributes associated with food, which are how filling it is, and how nutritious. It would be no use eating something which is filling, but has no nutritional value, otherwise you will fast find yourself becoming ill, with your skills and attributes being affected because of it. Each race also has a variety of favoured food types, so while apples, nuts and rice might be good for one race, it might cause adverse effects on another race. Lack of food will not result in death, fortunately. It's designed to be a background facter for realism, but not obtrusive or character destroying.

Krish Fou, Malladinst.. D'in Fil Prazah!

A bit rusty on various languages? You will be :) Each race has it's own language. AE haven't released how they'll impliment this into the game yet, but so far you won't be able to understand what a character of a foreign race is saying unless your character is skilled enough in that language. There's also out-of-game support for different languages. For example, NCSoft will be adapting their own version of Horizons for the Asian market (There will be a few tiny changes for the Asian version to cater for religious and cultural taboos and laws), but primarily the NCSoft version will be set up to allow the use of different character-sets used in typing/writing.

There will be /tell style communication in Horizons, though the system will be more efficient to use than those seen in other games so far. Speaking aloud will only be heard in a certain area around the speaker, with shouts travelling a bit further. There is also a Groupchat available (like fellowship), and Guildchat so you can communicate with all those in your guild. Fortunately there won't be any large-area broadcasts, which can be very obtrusive even in smaller games which have that setting. Also there are bazaar areas allocated for auctions, with a special chat style which won't go outside of the designated area.

Lay of the Land

AE haven't released the size of Istaria, but the team assure us that they'll be working over every blade of grass to make sure the finished product is as complete and detailed as possible. With that in mind, there will be a wide variety of creatures which can be mounted and even flown upon, though every creature will be limited (likely judged by skill levels), on how far and fast they can travel both on land and above it. Swimming will also be possible, with each race having different abilities in this field, ranging from the slow swimmers who can barely hold their breath for twenty seconds through to races which live underwater and move as freely as a bird in flight. Perhaps a better example would be a fish in water :-)

The whole system for building/renting/owning houses is a little complex in it's execution. Once you've managed to purchase a piece of land in a pre-designated area, you can go about hiring a crew from an NPC building company to start creating your new money-sink. Taxes are paid every two weeks, and if three payments are missed your property is foreclosed. The land may be sold or destroyed if six payments (three months) are missed. The amount of tax to be payed is determined by the land, the local authorities, what the building is to be used for and the size of the building/land etc. It's also interesting to note that keys can be cut from originals and copied (presumably using a mould), so you may need to change the locks if you think security has been compromised. Also you are able to tag items which you wish to remain exactly where they are. These items cannot be stolen, decayed or moved at all (examples might be a table and chairs or wall clock), and the number of items taggable depends on the size of the house.

Scattered about the land like discarded toys can also be found arenas. These are places where combat takes place without penalties, and the rules are defined by whoever is the current champion of the arena in question. Large audiences can watch the battles as they take place, though can't interfere with the fight in any way.

With lots of small details like this in Horizons, it all adds up to a very large and detailed game which will definately keep all players fully entertained. Just take the screenshot to the left as an example. The hieroglyphics on the wall is a completely readable language in the game, though at this point I couldn't tell you if your character could understand it with the right skills or if you as a player would need to translate it. I'm presuming the latter of the two to be the case.

You'll Be Hearing From My Associates..

Guilds will be considerably more complex and in-depth than in past games, with members being allocated and promoted to certain definable ranks within the organisation, each rank having a list of abilities within the guild which they have access to, as defined by the guild leader. These abilities might include things like authorisation to access the guild's vaults and hand out funds or items to guild members, or to officially declare war against another guild or faction. There'll be a large list of possibilities, which will undoubtedly be modified and tinkered with during beta.

Another interesting aspect of Horizons is that of family. Each race has a different amount of average family members and each have varying likelihoods of kicking out troublesome members. Parents can be PC or NPC and can help out their offspring in various ways which have yet to be disclosed. Parents will also often have homes, though not always, and be able to supply a degree of protection and equipment to their children.

As if they weren't enough associations to have watching your back, you can also have a Deity which will play quite an active role in your game life. There are 19 Deities in all, each having a variety of advantages and disadvantages, and also differing likelihoods of giving aid during battle or other times of trouble. Take Angels and Demons for example.. Angels worship Rasha and Demons worship Mheegus, and should members of these opposing races meet in battle, they will likely have the power of their respective gods behind them, leading to a spectacular show. It's also important to note that there are Blood Wars, which is a permanent state where opposing races can attack each other on site and gain bonuses rather than penalties. These Blood Wars are pre-set and usually involve some rather nasty history between the warring races.

Blast Ye, Thief n' Scallywag

A feature which has been proved as popular and important is that of Secure Trade, which will be available for both normal trades between players and also for Item Creation Contracts, for which details have yet to be released. Also there are Banks for those who need to stow items and money, or exchange currencies. Banks are localised though, so putting a spare set of plate armour in one bank will mean you have to go back there to get it, rather than from any bank you might visit.

Random PK'ing will likely not take place, because those who take part in it will find themselves being hunted by local Bounty Hunters (both PC and NPC), guilds, families, friends and even Deities, who will exact their rightous wrath on those who commit such deeds. Attacking members of friendly factions will also cause you to lose standing amongst them and even become an enemy to them. Of course, fighting those of opposite alignment and those who your race is at war with (normal and blood war) will result in bonuses rather than penalties. Troublemakers will find themselves unable to enter towns or even being killed on site when attempting to do so. There is also Kharma and Peity to take into account, so it's a good idea to be on best behaviour.

Let's finish on the requirements then. Even at Alpha stages, the minimum system requirements amount to more computer power than most of us have and will very likely rise a little more over time, but by release it's likely that an average computer could handle the game well enough. You have yourself about a year to make the appropriate preparations :)

Miminum System Requirements