Cosmo3D Visits Funcom! (Part 2)

This is part 2. Did you read part 1?

Yes, we are finally here with the second, and final, instalment of our Visit To Funcom-series! Due to some various issues we weren't able to get it finished at an earlier date, but we promise it was worth the wait. Get ready for some really interesting titbits on Funcom's upcoming MMORPG Anarchy Online from our chat with the game's lead designer and producer Tommy Strand!

Written by Axel "Cosmo" Sjøstedt and Anders "Twilight" Steinlein, published 22nd September 2000

First of all, let us make a correction from our last part. We said Funcom started out with developing Java games. That is not entirely true after all. Back in '93 they started developing games for the Sony PlayStation. A few years later, in '96, they saw the potential in Java, and have ever since been supporting the language.

Ok, back to the main thing. Remember where we left off the last time? We had just had our round-trip in their offices, and were waiting for Tommy to show up from a meeting. After a short wait, this smiling guy with a cap and Anarchy Online (AO from now on) t-shirt showed up. Of course, it was Tommy. After a nice introduction, we found our way back to the red couch in the reception, and sat down talking.

Start chatting

We started with a question that you'll probably find in something like every single interview regarding AO you have read the last year - but since the answers seem to be quite different every time, we thought it would be fine to launch the show with requesting the current status of the game, and how the game had changed over the past four years of developing.

"The only things that have remained constant since the start is the name and the setting", said Tommy. We began thinking of the rather original setting, a sci-fi universe set nearly 30 000 years into the future. He pointed out that they had been rather lucky with their decision. None of the similar games have "stolen" the idea over the past years - he actually seemed a bit surprised by the lack of new settings used by the other game developers. The usual magic-thing set to an older age has been the hit so far. "But why not do something completely different", he said. A bit later you'll know why they smacked on a few decades. It has it's reasons, you see.

To move a bit on - what has changed in the development lately, and why? Tommy made no secret of the fact that they get influence from other games released in the multiplayer roleplayer genre. They naturally look at the mistakes made by other titles and try to avoid them as much as possible - but they also get inspiration by successful concepts. Everquest for example, sat a new standard to the genre. Some of the other games have had the "boring" tendency and Funcom therefore try to get rid of the "interminable search for various items" - and their goal is also to offer something more than thoughtless player killing.

Of course - not to mention; the time adds it marks. The project has now moved on from a 2D-environment suited for Pentium 133s, up to the T&L compatible DirectX7-stage. Such a technology-leap requires its manpower, so the AO-team has increased from two guys to be a full-time (and then some) project for over 50 people.

What's the baby named?

Over to the game's name. As mentioned earlier, it was one of the two things that were decided upon from the start. We've seen it mentioned before, but really haven't understood the whole 'anarchy' thing. Funcom's official AO-site says that you'll have to choose either to work for the Omni-Tek corporation or join the clans - the rebels. You can see the structure, right? Our experience is that 'anarchy' means something like a messy society free of laws and governments. The Oxford Advanced Learner's Dictionary Of Current English located at Cosmo's house actually tells "absence of government or control; disorder; confusion" - basically what we assumed.

But we didn't manage to leave this subject with an enlightened mind. Tommy claimed that it meant something like "the ideal society - everyone is rated equal", and that the story builds upon the fight for this. A mysterious topic, maybe it is in Funcom's intention? We got a little bit curious, at any rate... =)

Technology, magic and saving

Let's get back to this future setting, then. The so-called "nano-technology" is a well-mentioned subject when speaking about AO, but Funcom has held this subject pretty secret until now. Why, and what's it all about? Nano-technology is simply AO's magic. "Normal people" in the game will perceive it as magic, but it is actually explainable science. We are in year 30 000, right? The human beings have searched through the universe and populated other planets, so why can't some other things be stranger than today too? ;) So that's the reason they "smacked on" the rather hefty years - they wanted everything to be explainable.

We switched over to our next question. In massively multiplayer games like this, saving the state of the game must be a challenge. How can 50 000 players communicate with each other in the same game, especially with today's limited bandwidth for most users? Other similar games - like Ultima Online - have been surrounded by server downtime and other problems that deleted recent data, and set the whole progress hours back in time. We did some research on this subject before we met the gang, and found out that there are several different methods of saving in such a complex online game.

It actually looks like AO will introduce a new type on this subject - their "insurance booths". Instead of saving the game-state each hour or so (like in Ultima Online) or when something "important" happens (Everquest), AO will allow the players to save whenever they want to. You will be able to insure your status in a "clone" by paying some money (in-game of course), so if something goes terribly wrong you can return to your last point of insuring. This will involve another degree of strategy, as some people will probably play the high-risk-thing with hardly no saving during their participation in the online universe - while others will do it more often. The bad thing regarding the last one is that you spend more time and money. Of course, all this is possible because of the human-invented nano-technology!

Tommy also mentioned a funny, technical device you place in your right arm. It is supposed to have some kind of connection with this saving-issue, and if we got his lecture right, it has got something to do with your items. When you die in other massively multiplayer online roleplaying games, the items you were carrying are dropped with your body. With this arm-device (again, if we perceived it right), you get your items back when you enter your insured clone. This will as we mentioned before mostly eliminate the frustrating body-robbing and searching for items. Yeah!

And the winner is...

Let's get over to something different... How will the game feel? What will it look like? From what we saw in the testing-department we told you about in the last part, the surrounding environment won't be as deserted as you may believe. We saw steep hills, trees, bushes and buildings, darkness, fog and rain. We also asked about the in-game monsters and such, as we were quite surprised that humans were the only "intelligent" species around. The humans have colonised several planets and seen other species when the game takes place - but it wasn't intelligent, according to Tommy. "Some mutants, small animals and such", he said - "but no things like us." Tommy could also disclose that they got some inspiration from Dune regarding this species- and environment-issues. Interesting.

You might have wondered what will happen with the intriguing story while it progress with the thousands of players participating. After all, an evolving online multiplayer game can't be completed in 40-60 hours... First of all, Funcom has (with the involvement of The Longest Journey-guru Ragnar Tørnquist as mentioned in our last part) decided upon several events, which will occur at certain times during the game. These events will range from simply be something that happens "far away" from the players, to huge events taking place "in-game" - involving the players directly. The outcome of these event, among other things, will influence which part will be the winner of the conflict. So yes, there will be an end to the game, and yes, it will be roughly 4 years after the release. Regarding NPCs (non-player-characters), they will mostly be computer-controlled. Whenever they need (or simply wants) to go "public" such as in the milestone events, Funcom employees can go in to take control of the character.

Something that have bothered players playing other similar games, are the developers tendency to "nerf". "Nerfing" is a term used when they "weaken" players having grown too strong to even out gameplay between the teams. Sure this is necessary, but we can understand that the players get irritated when they've worked so hard to get this strong. So instead of just changing their statistics, Tommy told us that they would try to make the players change party by free will, by giving them an almost irresistible offer. Of course, someone will probably refuse the offer just to be bitchy - in those cases Funcom will have to actually weaken them "manually". After all - 100 players are more important than 10.

Off we go

As you probably know, the beta period started about a month ago. The latest phase will involve about 15 000 people from all around the world, while the server will be stationed here in Norway. As the game closes in on release though, more servers will pop up - mainly in the states. And if you didn't know, Funcom will be publishing the game themselves. Marit "PR-manager" Lund could also tell us that a deal with a US publisher to release the adventure hit The Longest Journey in the states is close to final. So to the Americans of you who don't wish to order the game from England - there's still hope.

We were about to fire off a new question, when our time was up. We took our picture with Tommy (see that couch-picture), and thanked him for his valuable time. So thank you Marit, Tommy and the rest of the gang at Funcom's - it was really nice talking to you and seeing how you work. We had a blast! We are really looking forward to AO (and No Escape for that matter!), and we hope to see you again sometime. To the rest of you folks out there - we hope this part was worth the wait. Don't you just want to get your hands on Anarchy Online now!? We can't wait!

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