AN INNOVATIVE DEVELOPER

What do you get when you mix the fire and passion of eGenesis president Andrew Tepper and an online role-playing world? You get a game experience like none I have ever seen in the online gaming world. A Tale in the Desert, the first game from Pittsburgh based eGenesis, promises to be the answer to a new genre of online role-playing games that may innovate and ultimately change the way we see them. In a recent chat, Andrew Tepper or Teppy as he is known, had this to say about his game, “I’m building the game I’ve always wanted to play and whoever wants to see how it all turns out is welcome to come along for the ride.” When asked by someone why he chose this path in his life, he eloquently replied, “I suggest to everyone that in real life, they try very hard to do what they like, not what someone else says they must do to be successful. I’m sure I could have gone through medical school or done something on Wall Street, or any of the boiler plate routes to success. I’m building a game for me in a sense, but I know there are enough people who will share my idea of what’s fun.” Indeed, eGenesis has already built a gathering of fans eager to enter into his unique world which is currently in beta testing. Exactly what is unique and innovative about A Tale in the Desert (ATITD) that has been praised by so many in the online gaming community? Let us see for ourselves.

THE GAME

One has the feeling of being in something special when they enter this world, a game in which players actually take an integral part in the story. This interesting online role-playing game places you as a citizen of an Egyptian society that quests for greatness in its future. Egypt and its traditions are at the heart of the story in this game. ATITD is set within the landscape and times of Egypt and in the Egyptians beliefs of the Seven Disciplines of Man: Leadership, Thought, The Human Body, Architecture, Worship, Conflict, Art and Music. It is believed that a society that is able to perfect each of these disciplines will become an ideal civilization that has reached the ultimate level of growth and happiness, one that has achieved near perfection and will never collapse. There will be 7 challenges available for each of the 7 disciplines for a total of 49 tests that players may undertake throughout the course of the game although it may be impossible to have a player accomplish them all. Players entering this world may choose to try to meet the challenges within each discipline and work together to achieve this end. Once you enter this game you will see that the familiar elements of other online role-playing games are gone, such as combat, monsters, items such as swords and armor and replaced with situations such as the tests mentioned above as well as overcoming any conflicts in the future to achieve the level of a perfect and ideal Egyptian society.

When asked, what role individual players would have in this game, Teppy responded by saying, “ATITD is intended to be a competitive game. So even though not all can lead a monuments construction, they can still be part of a winning camp. Without everyone there, the monument won’t be built.” In this sense, players will become part of something bigger, something meaningful that no other online game has been able to capture with such grace and precision. Your character within this game will also have their own statistics and will rise in levels and status dependent on how many tests they passed within each discipline. For example, if you completed 2 tests within the thought discipline you will be at level 2 in this discipline and be classified as a student of two because you have passed 2 out of 49 tests. How much effort you put into completing the tests in each of the seven disciplines as well as the time and cooperation with others you put forth in this game will determine how much you get out of it. You will only get out of this game as much as you are willing to put into it.

LOOKING AT THE CHALLENGES

Some examples of diverse challenges include creating fireworks for the art discipline. This is not as easy as it seems as you first must find the ingredients necessary to create them. You can do this by trading for the items through merchants or mining for them. Those that have the materials needed to create their own fireworks will participate in a contest at night where the winner will be judged by their society, which are the game players. Different combinations of materials will produce different fireworks and the most visually pleasing as voted by the players will be the winner. The winner of the contest will be able to then go up one level in this discipline. Another challenge you can try to complete is in the leadership discipline where you must bury a certain amount of gold in an area in the desert and reveal its location to 10 trusted friends. If within 24 hours the gold is still there, then you have passed the test and can raise a level in the leadership discipline. Far from what you would expect from other online role-playing worlds, ATITD promises to bring these challenges and many more. Beyond it all, one must take the time to appreciate the richness of content that eGenesis brings to the game. What I have just mentioned is but a sampling of the many challenges and experiences waiting to unfold in this world, all due to Teppy and his creative and talented team who innovate at every stage of the games development.

INFLUENCING EGYPTIAN SOCIETY

Quite significant within this world, is the huge way in which politics is able to drastically change the society based on the passing of laws. If players for instance do not like the way certain groups of people are acting, laws can be passed to keep them in line. But before this can happen a petition must be signed by the majority of players in favor of its passage. If this will not affect the game in any negative way, then a programmer at eGenesis will be able to implement the new law within 24 hours or longer depending on the complexity of the law. Laws that are passed but not logical and that will affect the game in such a way to unbalance it will be vetoed. Many players seem to enjoy this aspect of the game, and while laws proposed may never get passed, it is interesting to see how many players get actively involved in politics. This can only hope to bring the message forward that ATITD is not like any other online role- playing game released before but one that promises to give players the means by which they can control the destiny and direction of their Egyptian society.

OBSERVATIONS OF A TALE IN THE DESERT

This online role-playing game is currently in beta and you can download the client to run this game at its website. Many features discussed here may change when the game is released. Anyone is currently allowed entry into this world, but only at the scheduled session times which are posted at the game's website. I was in for an interesting experience when I tried out my first session which lasted several hours. When you first start ATITD you can choose the group you want to begin with. When I started in what I was told was one of the biggest camps in the game, a mentor greeted us all. A mentor is someone that will teach new players basic information that they need to get started. He did an excellent job showing us how to move the camera, find resources like grass, wood and other materials needed to create things. Once we were taught a few basics, we were on our own and able to explore the areas to our satisfaction. Your character can be tailored to how you would like to have them; you can choose from different character models and can customize their height and the colors of the various garments that they wear. With all the video options at their highest level, I was in for a visual treat. In one scene I was in awe as the sun rose over the mountains to one side, casting its reflection upon the glistening waters. Grass itself is nicely detailed and sways gracefully up to your knees as you run through it. The engine used for this game is powerful and can produce some outstanding visuals such as the beautiful textures used for the mountains, buildings and other things you will come across.

As mentioned previously, society can be changed by the passing of laws voted by the players and members of this society. A few laws were passed when I was there, and there was one that I enjoyed especially that was being proposed, it involved classifying players as citizens once they had spent at least four hours in the game. Instead of being classified as peasants as all new players are until you do something like passing a test, with this proposed law you would be classified a citizen after four hours. This new law helps to show that new players are also actual contributing members of this society instead of just being classified as peasants. For the player proposing this law I think will come a general feeling of pride in having contributed a law if passed that will benefit the way newer players are seen. I see very interesting things in the game's future if players are able to propose important laws that will evolve society and having players vote wisely and taking seriously those laws that are proposed. Movement also seemed very easy to do as well as being able to see all around you. Chatting is also handled well, and you can easily chat with someone by clicking on them.

Travel can be done by using a chariot which can take you to important areas such as the different schools where you will learn many of the things that are required of you. There are 7 different schools, one for each of the seven disciplines; where you will learn trades such as brick building or making boards out of wood. These schools are also the areas where the tests of the particular discipline will be given that will allow you to advance in status within your civilization. Many interesting events will occur throughout the different sessions of this game. One session that occurred in the past, involved giving players the task to create baskets out of mushrooms and the most unique that were turned in would increase the playing time of the next session by an hour. The player can also join several guilds created by other players and become part of their groups and join in whatever activities that they engage in. This I think is most important if the player finds it easier to be amongst other players instead of by themselves. Some find it easy being on their own while others may see these guilds as ways to progress further in this game.

While I found so much to like about this online role-playing game there are many things that I hope will be ironed out by the time the game is out of beta and released. While chariots offered travel to many locations I felt confused many times in getting my bearings of where I was and where the main areas where in regard to my position. I would hope that in the future, the layout of important areas is structured better so it does not seem as if they are scattered all over. There is an overlay map that does show you all of the surrounding areas but a little more structure to the areas and where they are located and situated would be appreciated. I also think there needs to be more structure in where you can build things. It seemed as I walked through the areas, that items that players had been building were scattered everywhere. I would like to see an actual city center where players have a location that they can build their items or homes instead of scattering them all over the terrain. It is possible that many of these features were not yet present in this session and that something like this may be introduced later. It is also possible that players could propose laws that could change this situation if players felt that it was important enough. The mentor that taught us mentioned that he had been in this beta for about six months and that he had accomplished only 4 tests out of the 49. He did tell me that this was a good number to have completed during this time as the tests are very difficult to complete. While I understand the reasoning behind making the tests this way, I do not necessarily agree with them being as difficult as they are due to the fact that many of these tests require much time to be completed.

The problem lies with the fact that the game can’t be played all the time but in sessions that are scheduled, which can vary anywhere from as little as 4 hours to as much as 12 hours or more at times. Due to the limited time this gives the player, I would hope the developers would take some consideration of this fact with regard to the many different tests offered in the game. One could argue that the tests are challenging so that the player can work hard at passing them, but being frustrated is never the answer to a fun experience. Many players will be turned off by the game if they do not see results in a decent amount of time. I am sure there is a way to balance many of these tests to make them somewhat easier to complete, to account for the time that is given to complete them. I guess it ultimately depends on what the player decides to do. If you want to pursue these tests, at least in the beta, it will be a difficult and challenging journey. A player does not necessarily have to rely on these tests for fun, although they are an integral part of the game, but they can also socialize with other players, work to bring new laws forward, become merchants to sell items or build many magnificent buildings. I believe that with more time and exposure one will find a place within this society which can depend on what the player wants out of this game. This is still a game in beta and many of these things are likely to improve as things are changed or added. After having played for several hours, I have become interested in joining future sessions to see what changes and new additions are made.

A WORTHY JOURNEY

A Tale in the Desert is a game that attempts to break the mold of the common online role-playing game and make an effort to surge into the forefront of innovation. It is a game that relies on more than just the same rehashing of content, one that promises as much and even more new content than the player can handle. Currently at beta stage, ATITD will have many fans waiting to play the release version when it is ready. A strong and cohesive storyline will also be an integral part of this game and revolve around Pharaoh and his nemesis, the Stranger. The Stranger will often bring trouble and conflict to the world based on players actions and it will be up to everyone to work together to overcome them. No one knows who or what the Stranger is at this time but this being, whoever it may be, will bring some very interesting changes to this online world. In order to tell a complex storyline with ATITD the game will have a beginning, middle and end. The story and features within this online game will make this world a living and breathing one that will change as time passes and go through good and dark periods, times of peace and times of conflict. New content will continue to be released at a rapid pace so that players will never have a moment’s boredom in this game. Through it all, players will continue working with the main goal of creating a perfect Egyptian society through the building of the seven monuments. After about a year’s time, players should be able to reach the end of the game and only Teppy and the rest of the team at eGenesis knows what is in store for players. With so much innovation, passion, and dedication put forward in this game, the journey to that end promises to be a memorable and engaging ride indeed!

INTERVIEW WITH A PROGRAMMER FROM eGenesis

We recently had an interview with Josh, a programmer from eGenesis, who gave us a small peak at how the powerful programming in A Tale in the Desert can make the game very interesting for all of us. He also helps us to understand the complexity involved in the time it took to get to the point where they are today.

INTERVIEW WITH JOSH

1) What is possible with the programming in this game?

The game is very scriptable. We designed the engine to basically be a script interpreter. The scripting language is a full featured programming language, so we can add a lot of different behaviors to the game. The scripting design was mainly designed for manufacturing-type activities such as smelting iron, making blades, and building obelisks. Voting within the game is also script based.

2) Was it difficult creating an engine that would do many of the things that this game required?

We’ve been programming for 4 years. This is by far the hardest program I’ve ever written. We have some really good people. But yes, it has been some serious work. The programming went through several stages. The first year, it was just the shell of a program and full of bugs. In the second year we got it working reliably, but it was skeletal and could only do a few things. In the third year we really fleshed out the engine’s capabilities. It started to get where we would call it “complete”. This last year I’ve been doing mostly quality improvements. For example, I have redone the graphics engine. It was working before but it was ugly. The engine is pretty complete. But you need to remember that it still contains a script interpreter and were writing script all the time. That will never be complete.

3) What are some of the features and goals in this game?

The game contains a tech-tree and one of the things the players in the game have been struggling to do is research for fireworks for a long time. Now they’re manufacturing gunpowder, aluminum, and phosphorus as fast as they can so that they can try the new system out. Our goal is to add new “stuff to do” faster than players can get bored of it.

4) Why do you think other online role-playing games are not doing what this game promises to do?

You know I’m not really sure why. Some of this is unique but a lot of it is stolen from single player games, like the tech-tree for instance. Sure it’s unusual to put a tech-tree in an online game, but they’re common in single-player games. I don’t really know why online games haven’t borrowed these ideas.