This sounds pretty rad
Project Phoenix aiming for 50-60 hours of gameplay, combat missions detailed
Project Phoenix, the Kickstarter-funded tactical JRPG from Creative Intelligence Arts, will likely feature between 50-60 hours of gameplay. Director Hiroaki Yura has explained some of the combat missions you’ll be completing during that time in a new interview.
Speaking with VG247 as part of an interview feature you can read in full soon, Yura said of the game’s running time, “We’re trying to aim for 50-60 hours of gameplay. We’re planning to have five-plus acts and we totally are looking for an ‘epic’ feel to the world with lots of colours and variations to it.”
He added that battles would be similar to those found in StarCraft but with several notable differences. He explained, “You get to customise and level your characters like any JRPG. We have a focus on squad based combat – not individual micromanagement although you are technically capable of using one character in a squad to control him/her. The characters will receive experience and increase levels if they survive the battle and receive loot. I won’t go through all of the difference, it may just take me forever.
He added on the controls, “It’s a simple point and click to move, the attack commands will be similar to a usual RTS. However, there will be stances in which your squad can choose from, basically a command which orders your character to act in a certain way like being aggressive, defensive or stealthy.
“Also, as with the recent combat update I’ve made, terrain plays a big role in the game and it will be represented accordingly by being able to manipulate the terrain to your tactical advantage/disadvantage. In the end, dependant on what mission, you will set you squad’s battle stance, figure out the best way to divide your men into squads and how you can manipulate the terrain to succeed in your mission.”
Battles will come with many objectives that deviate away from the simple ‘hit everything until it dies to win’ template. Yura explained, “Many of the missions will be like travel from point A to B without being killed, defend this area for X amount of time, help another person within X amount of time, kill this specific character. We haven’t thought of all the variations but we do already have a number of variations in mission design.”
At the time of writing Project Phoenix has made $688,466 of its $100,000 goal with four days of funding spare.
Keep an eye out for our full interview soon.
I like SRPGs and RTS games and a mashup could be really cool. Much more interesting than that new Megaman game anyway, there are more than enough retro inspired platformers to go round lol. (I'm sorry platformer fans, I still like you guys)
Blizzard open up Heart of the Swarm art tools in beta; "The full capability of the StarCraft II engine is at your disposal"
Geistkrieg - Allies, created by smurfbizkit and the Tankrush team in closed beta.
You might remember StarCraft Universe - the aspiring MMO built entirely in the SCII engine, now eight days away from its Kickstarter deadline. Arriving a little too late to be of use to its team but just in time to enable a new wave of Battle.net modders are StarCraft 2’s art tools - now released in open beta, “to do with as you see fit”.
“We wanted to give you the same power wielded by our own team,” write Blizzard, pure creative energy dripping stickily onto its keyboard. “So that there’s no limit to your creations.”
Power, in this very specific definition of the word, means the tools to create new models, textures, particle effects and animations or, as you can see above, the beginnings of a proper WWII reskin.
You can download the tools immediately by following the installation instructions here - though they might not be quite so accessible as advertised. Beyond StarCraft 2, you’ll also need a copy of professional modelling and rendering software 3DS Max - an investment of more than £3k unless you think you can polish off your mod during the 30-day free trial.
The closed beta has already yielded fruit, though, so with any luck others with the means and drive will have the engine painted from top to bottom in unrecognisable colours by Christmas. What would you like to see done with the tools?
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