Permission to Dock
I am very excited to announce that, today, January 28th, is the first official post of "A Beta Blogger". I have found a game as well as a very supportive community to blog about. I cannot tell you all how excited I am. But, before I talk about the game that I am going to be beta-ing, I want to ask you a question.
Have you ever heard of Stardock?
Because if you haven't, I'm sure you will, and soon (and not just from me, mind you). Stardock is a small software company located in Plymouth MI that develops utility programs such as a Windows version of the Mac taskbar called ObjectDock. But, they've also been publishing games for quite some time, most notably their recent victory Sins of a Solar Empire which made Gameasutra's top 5 list of 2008. And they don't plan to stop their.
Their name has been coming up constantly during the discussion for the future of PC games. Their name has even been associated, along with Valve, with "[defining] the 'new old wave' of PC gaming". And, on top of that, they're taking all this positive attention and blasting off with it (I like horrible puns, get used to it). Stardock recently announced that they are planning to release two new PC titles every year. Ambitious? Yes. Exciting? Very. Doable? Hell, I think they can. Watch these guys, I get the feeling their going somewhere, and fast.
Game-On!
But what does Stardock have to do with my small, unread, yet ambitious blog? Well, as I'm sure you've guessed, this little space-gem of a company is currently developing a little game I like to call:
With the help of Gas Powered Games, Stardock is about to main-stream a new style of gamplay. And the best news, as I'm sure you have already guessed, is that Beta has started. Now, I have not had the honor to play Demigod yet, but all good things come to those who wait for the community has informed me that Beta 3 starts in a week. Beta 3 marks the point in the beta when the technical aspects of the game have been mostly completed and all that remains is balancing. The best part is its really easy to join. All you need is to pre-order a copy of the game through Stardock. Then you just download, install, and have at it.
A God Amongst Men
Now, just because I haven't played the game yet, doesn't mean I can't share my excitement. Now, I have spent hours reading the website, community forums, and fansites, and I think I have a pretty good idea about what Stardock and GPG are up to. Now, forgive me if I'm wrong or if they make changes by the time the game comes out, but this will be fun to see how accurate my predictive description will be.
The game concept, in theory, is relatively simple. You have your base, and, across the map, through a series of criss-crossing paths, your enemy has theirs. Naturally, only one can stay standing. Periodically, each base will spawn several troops to traverse each path and fight their way towards the enemy base, ultimately ending in a stalemate as the forces swing to and fro like a pendulum. That's where you come in. Choosing one of 8 badass heroes, you rush into battle to lead your side to victory. You can play as one of four assassin based heroes focused on direct damage output and hero killing, or one of four generals, designed to having a mini-army of their own. Throw in hero levels, items, ability trees, tactical, gold-giving capture points, and a whole mess of strategy and you've got yourself hours of fun.
Oh, and don't forget the endless and free online play.
Now, before you say, "Hey Beta, that sounds a hell of a lot like DOTA...", let me confirm your suspicions. Yes, Demigod was inspired by the insanely popular Warcraft III map, Defense of the Ancients. But this isn't some small, single developer, game of a game, this is a full fledged real deal, one that has got me drooling because God knows I've played A LOT of Dota.
RTS, RPG, or HBALRTRPTSG?
Now, I know your saying "OMG Beta, why aren't you a comic artist?", or "Beta, that is the most awesome comic I've ever seen!", and "So, Beta, which is it, a RPG or RTS?" Well, in response to one of those (and you have to guess which statement I'm referring to), the answer is... neither.
In Demigod, you focus on one unit under your control: your hero. As you battle monsters, you gain experience, level up, buy items, and cast spells. Obviously making it an RPG. Well, not exactly. Though you focus on your hero every match, you start over every game and don't put consecutive effort into building up your character.
So then, obviously, its an RTS, if the controls are similar and the view is the same, then that must be the best answer, easily. Except... that its not. Though it feels like an RTS, the common themes of unit production, resource management, large scale army tactics, and micromanaging are pretty much non-existent.
In truth, this has been an on-going debate within the forums. Do we give it an old name and stereotype with something its not? Or do we give it a new name, one that is unfamiliar, but possibly intriguing? Though Action Real Time Strategy and Hero Based Strategy Game seem to fit better then Real Time Strategy and Role Playing Game, can they accurately describe gameplay in so few words? Truthfully, we don't have an answer yet, though, luckily, we still have time decide. However, my personal favorite from the forum is easily Hero-Based Arena-Located Real Time Role-Playing Tactical Strategy Game, or HBALRTRPTSG for short. So is this the horizon of a new genre, or an amazing sub-sect? I suppose we'll just have to wait and see!
Epilogue
So that concludes my first post! I hope you all have enjoyed reading it as much as I have enjoyed writing it. Let me know what you think here on the blog or back in the Demigod community forums (if you belong, that is). Come back next week as I look into the story of Demigod and what it could mean for gameplay, and, hopefully, engulf myself into Beta 3.
Byes!
