Auto Assault - thoughts on a new release

[Moloch]

Because I can't help but be bored with the WoW raiding endgame and the lack of purpose to PvP, I'm playing auto assault in the meantime. I thought it couldn't hurt to list some of the things that this title, niche like KW, got (IMO) right and wrong.

The game does visceral driving and shooting, twitch-esque gameplay well. It seems that there'll be some similarities with the twitch element of KW, this seems to me to have real promise. It's a blast. The destroyable (respawning) landscape adds to this element of enjoyment.

I'm not sure tho about the tactical depth to gameplay. There's a definite build depth to your toon/vehicle but the gameplay itself seems to be 1. Drive in an blaze away. or 2. Drive in until you get aggro then reverse so that the mobs 'clump' in your frontal arc where 2 out of 3 of your weapons overlap.

The servers are usually very low pop with sometimes one (Breakdown) hitting low. There's discussion on the boards about this, some seem to think that the beta experience gave the game a bad rep despite the Devs devotion to fixing it as a result of feedback.

The game has a turn up and duel feature in arenas. Best of all they're independent of server. PvP on tap. Pity there's so few people playing.

There's no mail system or AH. These things are more than a convenience, they mimic essential parts of the distribution systems of real world economies. Autoassault has a (very complex) crafting system but its hard to see how you can get any real return from the (obvious time sink) that crafting is when there's no efficient way to market your goods outside of a clan.

Clan support is minimal.

The mob v quest XP balance is out of balance. PvE XP comes mostly from quest completion, mobs are (except for loot drops) mostly a convenience. You find yourself running through packs to reach a waypoint on multiple versions of 'go to X then Y then Z and return to me postal quests'.

Racial bonuses are currently imbalanced with the Biomek HP bonus being by far the best (IMO).

The car animations are well done. The landscapes lack the artistic vision and coherence that characterises WoW. The bipedal human / Biomek / Mutant toons are just plain ugly and compare poorly to CoH/V (other NC titles). Has anyone in the KW team ever seen the artwork for the Kult CCG? Or Brom's Dark Age CCG artwork? My advice is to aspire to Kult or DA over AA.

These are essentially random thoughts while shaving. No time for more ... I'm off to level

[Badgerc82]

Nice post Moloch,

Should really have a look at Auto Assault when I get a minute away from development.... *code calls* ... Coming ;D

[Robert_Lewis]

AA looked somewhat interesting, thanks for the inside look :o

[Damon]

Rocking post Moloch. I swear you should be in Game Development. You have an awesome insight into their inner workings.

For AA, I played it in beta as well (checking out the competition). I respect every single company that decides to do a MMO or any game for that matter. You should see what we have had to deal with daily. What I give them kudos for is actually attempting something beyond the fantasy glut we are in. Breaking the mold. Testing the waters outside of the safety pool.

Game play wise the destructible environment is great. A carmegeddon Mad Max mmo sounds fun for about a week, is it really a sustainable world? With visceral characters that cut strait to the heart of their story. I see a pretty CG face on the cover, but what is her name? What does she do? Why is she important?

For KW we are trying to become less niche, more mass appeal without betraying our story and its meaning.
My goal personally is for players to enter the world and love to "Exist" there for not just weeks or months, but years. I want you to see yourself on the battlefields of Kaos and feel it. There are many games that will come before and after us, but it is my hope that none will make you feel as powerful, and important as in Kaos War.

[jiisu]

While Damon nailed it, I'm going to say my part.

I respect every developer that puts out an MMO. It's most definitely a tough gig and for the guys on this team, some more than others, it's been hell on earth. Of course in the end it will all be worth the torment, but damn is it a pain.

I don't have any money, but if I were offered a chance to play AA, I don't think I would. I look at a game that involves driving as a major part of the gameplay as flawed and essentially a waste of valuable time and money. It all boils down to the driving aspect being iffy at best in an MMO setting. Looking at it from this perspective, if you could drive around an area that had players running around, it would be super cheesy to see someone drive right into someone from their own faction and just stop dead in their tracks. Now if they were allowed to kill each other by running their enemies over, and fellow faction mates, then the game would be LAME because TK'ing would go on all the damn time and it would be frustrating as hell.

I'm not sure if thats how the actual game is, but it comes off that way to me. I don't think we've reached a point in the industry where a game like AA would reach the pinnacle of MMO success, and I don't think we ever will. Like Damon said. It's a niche market.

Kaos War is not for the niche player, though depending on how you looked at it, it is. We cater to action gamers, rpg gamers, adventure gamers, strategy gamers, and hardcore gamers alike. I'm not going to say how, but suffice it to say that this title will contain much more content than the standard MMO. When I think about the amount of work ahead of us, I kind of get frightened. But much like every other milestone we thought would be too hard, we all just lower our heads and charge straight at it till we break it down. That's how this team operates and its great to be apart of it all.

I know i kind of drifted off topic, but yeah. Auto Assault is probably mounds of fun for a week or two, just like planetside was, but in the end it's probably going to be a niche MMO. Sad, but thats the luck of the draw.

[Moloch]

Looking at it from this perspective, if you could drive around an area that had players running around, it would be super cheesy to see someone drive right into someone from their own faction and just stop dead in their tracks. Now if they were allowed to kill each other by running their enemies over, and fellow faction mates, then the game would be LAME because TK'ing would go on all the damn time and it would be frustrating as hell.

Generalising this away from AA, I disagree with Eric. Collision detection (IMO) is an essential part of any MMO that aspires to tactical realism. The use of terrain for cover, movement around obstacles (man made or natural), and the use of vegetation (smoke, fog, darkness etc) for concealment is part of what makes tactical manoeuvre so difficult. On one hand, you could see collision damage as "frustrating" I'd see it as one way I can show leet skillz. Hell, I'd like to see splash damage from AoEs effect friendly forces as well.

As for TK'ing ... allow FFA PvP and you've built an ingame mechanism to allow it to be dealt with.

I guess it depends on your mentality, I'm a PvPer by experience, attitude and choice.

Getting back to AA specifically, you can damage your targets in collisions (and destroy buildings and features) - even adding specific 'melee' weapons to add damage - but collisions with friendly forces only has a inhibiting effect on movement.

[Robert_Lewis]

*flashes back to multiplayer FarCry days* ahhhhh yes what fun it was! gotta love those buggies (I played under the name of Ionized_TAW and was known as quite the buggy wh.. well Ill leave it to your imagination.)

AA sounds fun actually Im quite tempted to try it out even if only for research purposes.

edit: okay Im trying auto assault. I would like to decline to comment, other than: I should have used that money for gas (irl) or something instead!

[Moloch]

Cancelled my account before the 30 days free play was up.

The community is miniscule and there's no incentive to group.
With no AH or mail system the economy doesn't work.
The crafting system was frustrating, time consuming and - with no economy - not worth the effort. KW Devs please note. Complexity is not the same as depth. And build in a gentle learning curve rather than a hair pin turn.
The quests were extremely repetitive.
Combat 'tactics' were almost non existant (at least for the tank class I played).
Boss mob encounters were boring.

So I'm back to 6-8 raids with my guild clearing AQ and (still) trying to down the last two bosses.

[Robert_Lewis]

Cancelled my account before the 30 days free play was up.


Same here, just wasnt fun. It was a mess really.

[jiisu]

Cancelled my account before the 30 days free play was up.


Same here, just wasnt fun. It was a mess really.



=D Fun for two weeks just like i said eh? :-p

[Vali]

I know i kind of drifted off topic, but yeah. Auto Assault is probably mounds of fun for a week or two, just like planetside was, but in the end it's probably going to be a niche MMO. Sad, but thats the luck of the draw.

Planetside - Such a shame. I didnt think it had to be niche, or a two week experience. I always thought it had the potential to be more.

I was wrong.

But was I wrong because of core game design or because the Planetside team didnt really understand their initial playerbase and didnt seek to make some tough improvements based on their beta teams suggestions and later - their playerbase.

Im not so sure.

-V