Project Entropia Intelligence Report

Original Interview[edit]

Project Entropia Intelligence Report

December 11, 2000

The human race has entered a new era of interstellar exploration and colonization. For the last century or so, sophisticated robotic space vessels called Odysseus Probes have been sent far across the galaxy to locate planets suited to human life and to prepare them for the arrival of settlers by creating outposts and supply facilities. Far beyond the Colonial Frontier, one of these Probes discovered the Earth-like planet of Calypso and created a vast robot community to await the arrival of the first pioneers. But something went wrong. The robots refused to give up control, and the ensuing Robot Revolt very nearly wiped out all the settlers. Now, the colonists face a new robotic threat as well as mutant humans and the world's native creatures as they work to build the future.

The above is a very brief summary of the backstory forProject Entropia, an extremely intriguing persistent online world project being developed by MindArk, a studio located in Göteborg, Sweden. This fall, the company revealed a potentially revolutionary Internet-based revenue model that will allow the game to be made available at no initial cost and with no subscription fees. With development reportedly moving forward toward initial beta testing in the early part of next year, it seemed a very appropriate time to look over what's know about the game at this time in this new Project Entropia Intelligence Report.

Developer: MindArk AB is based in Göteborg, Sweden and reportedly numbers about 30 employees. The team's visibility has been fairly low to date; the usual spokesman for the game is Marketing Manager Patric Sundström.

Publisher: The game will not have a publisher in the usual sense of the word since it will be distributed at no cost and have no subscription fee. Development is being funded privately, and the company expects the ongoing operating costs to be covered by an integrated commercial component.

Type: Project Entropia is a 3D persistent online world with a science fiction theme. Beta Testing: Closed beta testing is expected to begin as soon as January of 2001, with open testing presently slated for late spring.

Projected Release Date: The developer's current projection is an autumn, 2001 release.

Setting & Backstory: The game takes place in a future wherein Mankind has explored deep into space, colonizing the imaginary planet of Calypso, which serves as its setting. Physically, it is similar to Earth, but with its own native life forms. There is a main settlement, the city of New Haven, plus lots of wilderness with creatures, both friendly and not so friendly. Calypso is also being slowly invaded by renegade robots from the planetary system of Akbal-Cimi, their intent being the extermination of human life on the planet.

Gameworld: The zone-free world of Calypso will include a range of familiar natural environments such as forests, deserts, swamps, mountains, caves, lakes and oceans. There will also be various cities and towns, which will have apartments, bars, shops, factories sewers, churches, red light districts and more to explore. Weather will vary, including sunshine, overcast, rain, etc. The official site notes that the planet will be dynamic, with players being actively involved in shaping its development and in finding new land areas. It has also been stated that new worlds will be discovered during the course of the game. The size of the gameworld has not been stated, but since the plan is eventually to accommodate a million or more players online at one time, it will obviously be very expansive.

Player Characters: All player characters will be human. Players will be able to select a character's gender plus other visible characteristics such as height, body type, and skin, hair and eye color. While only a limited amount is known about the character system, it is stated on the official site that there will be no character classes. In addition, Project Entropia will allow for a variety of different playing styles ranging from those with a focus on socially-oriented activities within the safe urban environments to exploring the wilderness, fighting the planet's creatures and the invading robot forces, and even building new settlements. Players will also be able to own houses as well as ground and air vehicles. The number of characters per player has not been finalized, but is projected to be between five and eight.

Character Advancement System: Only a relatively small amount of rather general information has been revealed to this point in time, such as its being skill-based. It will be of course, be possible for characters to increase their skills and abilities and to develop their attributes, but details as to how practice, maintenance and specialization will work are basically unknown. The advancement system is apparently open-ended so that neither characters nor their skills and abilities can be maxed out.

Skill System: The game is expected to offer a selection of about 50 skills, with all of them being available to all characters. Details are sparse to date, but some categories mentioned up to now are combat, survival, and dancing. In place of magic, there will be a type of skill called MindForce, which is based on the concept of the brain being developed to use more of its capacity, aided by surgical implants that increase specific powers.

Quests: Project Entropia is expected to feature numerous quests, including both individual tasks as well as some that will affect the entire world. Certain quests are expected to be group-oriented, requiring co-operation since they will be too difficult or even impossible for individual characters.

Combat: Combat will include both melee and ranged attacks as well as the use of certain MindForce powers. Success will be based on factors such as characters' abilities, attributes and weapons.

Player vs Player Combat: Project Entropia will include player versus player combat. The cities and possibly other areas will be safe zones, with arenas where combat skills can be practiced in safety prior to venturing into the wilderness. Death: Death will result in losing everything your character is carrying unless you have purchased insurance, which will be available in various coverage levels. As a deterrent measure, player killers will not be able to obtain insurance for a period after killing another player character.

Weapons & Armor: Although only a few types of each have been specifically named, the game will offer different types of weaponry ranging from bare hands to simple knives and laser, shock and plasma weapons as well as heavy energy cannons. Similarly, the selection of protective armors will encompass a variety from basic clothing to light armor and energy shields. Opponents: Project Entropia's opponents will include the aforementioned robots from Akbal-Cimi, mutants and Calypso's indigenous fauna. In all cases, there will be numerous types providing diverse levels of challenge. The screenshots released so far have shown several different types of opponents including at least one flying creature. Creatures named so far include the small harmless Gazonk, the large four-legged Katang that will hunt anything that moves and has an enormous appetite for meat, and the Molisk, a comparatively safe stone-eating creature. Technology: For gameplay, Project Entropia uses its own proprietary engine. Graphics are rendered by the NetImmerse engine from NDL Inc, which has a full range of competitive features such as 3D accelerated graphics, detachable camera, first and third person views et al. As noted above, MindArk plans on a single gameworld for as many as a million simultaneous players, although probably not immediately upon launch. Details of the server technology that will support this number are not known. Interaction with Fans: Aside from occasional interviews including a couple with RPG Vault, the team has maintained a relatively low level of visibility to date. Members do make occasional appearances on the official site's message boards. Considering it is almost ready to enter beta and that it will be available at no cost, the level of media attention seems low, although this may be at least partly intentional on the part of MindArk. The company being located in Sweden may also be a factor.

Positives: MindArk's plan to offer Project Entropia at no cost and with no subscription fee makes it a potentially ground-breaking title that could have broad implications for the entire online worlds genre. The concept is an interesting one with lots of room for expansion, the visuals shown so far have looked good, and there seems to be a fairly strong emphasis on allowing non-combat oriented playing styles.

Questions Marks: While it is potentially revolutionary, MindArk's revenue model is also untried, and the company has understandably been quiet as to the details of how it will work. In addition, the low-key approach in terms of publicity to this time has led to comparatively low awareness about the game in general, and also about how various game elements will work. Outlook: Since information has been somewhat sparse, it's still pretty pre-mature to form opinions about what the game will be like, how it will play or how well the revenue model will work.

System Requirements: Specific system requirements have not been announced. Since the game uses a licensed graphics engine, it seems likely that they will be comparable with other 3D titles of the coming generation.

Links: Project Entropia Interview #2 (September, 2000) Project Entropia Mini-Interview (March, 2000) Project Entropia Interview (July, 1999) Project Entropia Wallpaper (April, 2000)

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