Kaos War collected information

[Moloch]

This series of posts is presented as a service to the KW community.

Note that at this early stage of development, design and features will change. Personally, I regard the Devs posts to be conversations rather than promises. Or, as Tyen said on 19 Jan 07 "Since it is so early in development don't be surprised if things are changed around. What may seem like a good idea on paper may not be so good when implemented."

What’s also changed is the Dev team. Loren (and others) has left, but his comments reflected KW’s direction at that time. When new information comes out that confirms or changes what he said, I’ll delete references to his quotes.

The posts are arranged with newest first in each section. Please let me know about updated or additional information, including the source (FP = forum post)

All comments, indicated by Comment: Blah, blah, blah, are nothing more than my guesses. Because I can’t help myself.

Bottom line up front

1. A gameplay demo was completed in Jan 08 (Press Release on web site). Previously, Damon had announced in Feb 07 that the game was in "prealpha prototype work and core concepts" (Damon, The Game Musketeer, 26 Feb 07), with Damon posting in the forums on 11 Apr 08 that "We ran our first test of our alpha".

2. Funding has been received from a european investment company called Orange Dogs BV. Previously (20 Dec 07) Damon announced in a FP that "SRI has received private equity investment and we making great progress on Kaos War."

3. Finally, in regards to 'player testing stage' in a FP dated 3 Jan 08 Tyen (Community Manager) said "If relatively close means nowhere near close, than you are right.

Features
Full skill-based progression system
Revolutionary Action based combat
A never before seen weapon and armour upgrade system for an MMO
Story and player driven content
Epic Player vs. Environment encounters
Massive PVP with numerous rewards for fighting for your side
Damon, MMOG Welten interview, 14 Aug 08, (http://mmog.onlinewelten.com/)

[Moloch]

Race

Bloodlines will be a customization choice. We didn't want to give players just the regular old standard Human choices or Deva even
Algar. The bloodlines do have unique starting abilities and unique looks. In Kaos there are no classes, yet through bloodlines they can tailor their characters to those strengths inherent in those lines.

(Comment: Damon then all but says there will be "secret and powerful latent abilities" in each bloodline(Damon, FP 8 Nov]

"I will say there will be different bloodlines for each race!" (Damon FP, 5 Nov 07)

“We are offering just 3 factions which each consist of 1 race and which all play radically different then the other races” (Loren, FP 21 June 06)

Humans

Sanctus Ciraci (is) the human starting lands. Damon, FP 28 May 08
Sanctuary is “the last human city” (Gallery 25 Jul 06)
It has “hydrofarms” underneath it (Gallery 25 Jul 06)

One human class is evidently the ‘Vedhas’ a “Human in light armour” (CGTalk concept art post 16 Jul 06)

“All the tech heads will definitely want to pick up the Humans. As usual I can’t get into details, but the Human race will have some interesting tools at their disposal... not just guns (Jiisu Domorael, FP 15 Jul 06)

Human strategic movement is via “automated (npc controlled) dropships.” (Loren, FP 20 June 06) updated by Tyen (FP 19 Jan 0 "I have no idea about drop ships but that doesn't necessarily mean we plan on doing it or not doing it."

"Human characters though not capable of flying short distances like the Deva, nor having a certain ability the Al'gar have, are the only race that uses rather impressive ranged weapons! (Deva and Al'gar use magic)” (Loren FP 17 Jun 06) updated by Tyen (FP 19 Jan 0 "The last time I talked to Damon about flight, jet packs were mentioned for the humans."

The Gallery has removed an image of an “assassin” that was present in early Apr 06. while its race was unidentified, the image suggested it was human.

Deva (angel-like)

Guardian and ‘light’ Guardian (Gallery 25 Jul 06. Former confirmed and later introduced by Concept art post on mmog.onlinewelten.com 25 Jul 06)

Colossus (Gallery 25 Jul 06)

Gaiza (Gallery 25 Jul 06) Comment: possibly an NPC rather than a Deva type

The Soul Keeper (Concept art post on mmog.onlinewelten.com 25 Jul 06)

Uzurahim is the home of the Deva (Gallery 25 Jul 06)

The Gallery has removed images of “Monk” and “Wrathbringer” – identified as angel classes – that were present in early Apr 06.

“The Deva … can FLY right out of the box. Currently, we are planning for the Deva to engage in air to ground and air to air combat” (Jiisu Domorael FP 15 Jul 06)

Deva strategic movement is via “portals to move around the gameworld quickly ” (Loren, FP 20 June 06)

Deva can fly “short distances” and use magic (Loren FP 17 Jun 06) Comment: Loren said in a FP on 20 Jun 06 that the Deva were able to fly “medium distances very quickly”

Al’gar (demon-like)

Bragun'Dragul is “an Al’gar lair” (Gallery 25 Jul 06)

“Al'Gar and Deva can use portals to move around the gameworld quickly, each of them also has a special ability that helps them travel medium distances very quickly (for Deva this ability is flying). (Loren, FP 20 June 06)

[Moloch]

Character development

"Things are likely to change but we have one tree devoted to a pet-class style build, and pets make an appearance in another tree as well. (Will, FP, May 13 08 )

“We use a skill based system of advancement. We will be tweaking soon how many skills you may have at 100%. We are also looking into a Hero Class type skills for people who specialize.” (Damon FP Jul 23 06). Comment. A UO type skill system

“It's definitely too early to say how many exactly, but I would estimate the maximum number of Avatars you could create falling between 5 and 15. Keep in mind that this is a rough estimation and is subject to change, but so far as to give you an idea it will suffice” (Jiisu Domorael FP 25 June 06)

“The game doesn't use predefined classes, instead your character is developed by simply doing whatever you wish to be doing and in doing so your characters abilities change to reflect this” (Loren, FP 1 Apr 06)

Gear and loot

In response to a forum post (23 Nov 07) about the possibility of customising the look of armor when crafting, Damon replied "DING".

“Boomers, for instance, will have large area-of-effect weapons to use on groups of players.” (Damon, The Game Musketeer, 26 Feb 07) Comment. A little confusing sounds like a class

“The way our system is set up 95% of the available items and gear retain value wherever you are in the leveling curve, instead of just being the thing you should use between say, level 23 and 25” (Loren, FP 7 Apr 06)

“Raid loot is not the only way of getting a top notch set of gear for your character and there is little difference between what gear or specs you'd use for PvE and PvP” (Loren, FP 1 Apr 06)

[Moloch]

Gameplay

Controls and movement

“melee combat … will be closer to playing a God of War or a Soul Calibur, than Quake.” (Damon, The Game Musketeer, 26 Feb 07)

BUT

“There will be multiples of opportunities for a player who doesn't want to be twitch based. (Damon, The Game Musketeer, 26 Feb 07)

“Bunny hopping … won't work in our engine, because we aren't going to put it in.” (Will FP, 16 Jan 07)

“No worries guys, CD is definitely in.” (Damon, FP 31 Dec 06)

“Kaos War is played from a 3rd person perspective, with a 3rd person action controls. Unlike most MMO games Kaos War delivers realtime action allowing the player to direct his weapons or powers in combat” (From KW Website, in the section ‘Game Info – Gameplay’, 25 Jul 06)

“This does indeed mean pvp and pve combat involves full freedom of movement such as dodging, jumping and even flying incase you're a Deva.” (as above)

“There's a good chance the initial release won't feature any mounts. Al'Gar and Deva can use portals to move around the gameworld quickly, each of them also has a special ability that helps them travel medium distances very quickly (for Deva this ability is flying). The humans have no such ability yet, but this should be more then compensated by their use of automated (npc controled) dropships.” (Loren, FP 20 June 06)

“Skill based combat (will be) playing a larger role then in the traditional MMO” (Inuous, FP 19 June 20)

[Moloch]

The game world

Locations

“Roughly 90% of the Kaos War world is set on a planet called Kaos, the surface of which is contested by 3 factions. Each faction has one major city, together these cities and their large surrounding areas, including several faction bases, make up about 1/3rd of the gameworld” (From KW Website, in the section ‘Game Info – World’, 25 Jul 06)

Sanctuary is “the last human city” (Gallery 25 Jul 06). It has “hydrofarms” underneath it (Gallery 25 Jul 06)

Uzurahim is the home of the Deva (Gallery and Game Info – World, both 25 Jul 06)

Bragun'Dragul is “an Al’gar lair” (Gallery 25 Jul 06) and “home of the Al’Gar and seat of the emperor” (From KW Website, in the section ‘Game Info – World’, 25 Jul 06)

Xaos, a high tech city (Gallery 25 Jul 06). Comment: As humans are the high tech race it would seem reasonable that this was a human city. The description of Sanctuary, however says that it is the “last” human city.

Iskandar, a city (Gallery 25 Jul 06)

Housing

“We currently have only planned for having instanced housing at this time.” (Jiisu Domorael, FP 3 Sep)

Mobs

Shunned Nomad (Gallery 25 Jul 06).

Asrael, is “an Al'gar Slayer that has ability of metamorphosis” (CGTalk concept art post 16 Jul 06)

The economy

“The key is making your game as close to zero-sum as possible, without alienating your players by turning it into a grind for cash at all times. There have been plenty of approaches, but it's the general consensus at this point that you can't stabilize the economic growth of a server with just one response. Things like Territory Control will be expensive. Want to upgrade your Keep into a Castle? Castle into an Impregnable Fortress? It's going to cost your guild truckloads of money to do, and to upkeep. Want the best NPC Guards and Tower Emplacements? Fork over the cash. Want to put the Impregnable Fortresses' name to the test? Those siege weapons won't be cheap. But we're talking about an entire guild or alliance here, not one player.” (Damon, The Game Musketeer, 26 Feb 07)

“we'll also be taxing buy/sell orders, housing, arena bets, and other basic things” (Damon, The Game Musketeer, 26 Feb 07)

“You can expect an auction system in Kaos War, though it might well be in the form of an auction house with a different experience then what you're used to” (Loren, FP 20 June 06)

“In fact it's (Comment: the economy) a combination of both elements (resource gathering and resource ownership) that you just mentioned, you can fight over specific resource deposits as part of the PvP metagame and then have your gatherers go to work and harvest those resources. Both the people involved in the PVP aspect and those that simply hurry to a popular resource spot to gather are rewarded greatly for this” (Loren, FP 7 Apr 06)

“What is clear on this topic at the moment is that the game is more market and economy driven then it is craft driven” (Loren, FP 4 Apr 06)

In game communications

“I've already designed our chat system … I’ve included every useful feature I could possibly think of into our chat system to make conversation with fellow group mates, guild mates, and everyday folk as easy and functional as possible. I've also added some features that WoW doesn’t include, but that’s for another day” (Jiisu Domorael, FP 1 Aug 06)

“We are still in some discussions with other parties that pertain to the use of voice communication in Kaoswar.” (Carl Lloyd, FP 4 Aug 06)

[Moloch]

Miscellaneous

Alpha, Beta, and Release

In regards to 'player testing stage' in a FP dated 3 Jan 08 Tyen (Community Manager) said "If relatively close means nowhere near close, than you are right.

The state of development at approx 26 Feb 07 is “finishing up some of our prealpha prototype work and core concepts.” (Damon, The Game Musketeer, 26 Feb 07)

“We havent decided on our payment plan for customers yet. GameCards are a definite at launch.” (Damon, FP 23 Aug 06)

“We do not have a publisher yet, but it shouldn’t be long now.” Damon MMOG welten interview 14 Aug 06 (http://mmog.onlinewelten.com)

“We will not be releasing in 2008, as Damon clearly states in the video that goal was for personal motivation only. Currently we expect the release date to be beyond this mark.” (Belzebud, FP 25 Jun 06)

“That said, the release date we are currently thinking about internally, is way beyond the "december 2008" shown on that sheet” (Loren Roosendaal, FP 16 Jun 06).

Release “by 30 Dec 08” (Damon’s target memo to himself shown on Creating Kaos – Episode 1)

Alpha

“Milestone 2 = playable alpha at 7-18 months + 2 (from getting a Publisher)” (From SRI Business Plan shown in Creating Chaos – Episode 4)

Beta

“There will be a Beta, it's still a long ways off of course, first you'll have to watch us try to get publishing and/or investment and plow our way to E3 next year hopefully!” (Loren, FP 17 Jun 06)

Engine

Cryengine2 was used to produce the build from which the late May screenies were taken

Since Kaos War has funding now we are actually purchasing an engine instead of building one ground up. So, sad to say, the tech demo doesn't quite represent what will be in store. We can't talk about what engine we will be choosing yet, nor can we even hint to it. (Tyen (Community Manager), FP, 6 Jan 06 - thx amz181)

Kaos War is powered by our own engine
Damon, MMOG Welten interview, 14 Aug 08, (http://mmog.onlinewelten.com/)

Naming
"We will have a name reservation system setup sometime in the next few months. No ETA on it."
Tyen (Community Manager), FP 2 Jan 08

[Moloch]

Combat

"We have secondary weapon swaps on the fly and combo moves to finish opponents and monsters. Your character also has the ability to wield a one handed melee and ranged weapon in either hand at the same time." (Damon FP, 5 Nov 07)

“Player territory control will be a priority. The details of our warzones will come out whenever Damon wills it to be. Personally, I'm more excited about our competitive arena fighting, but if it's large-scale fights you want, it's large-scale fights you will get.

I'm predicting alliances being formed to control structures, strategic locations, and various PoI's we deem "controllable". Following that, a plethora of "roaming groups" which I personally want to help push along with an LFG system devoted to servicing it. If anyone remember's putting together an 8-man in Daoc, it was sometimes difficult to do on your own. No reason to leave anyone out of the fun, so helping them form themselves up should make for some more action on the World PvP front.

As per usual, there's more to it than that, but I've probably said my fill at this point. World PvP is a very high priority for us.” (Will FP 30 Dec 06)

“there is no typical spawning in the game. We're still holding true to that idea. Sure, one type of creature may appear in a certain area, but there is no way of determining exactly where that mob will occur. Some mobs will be roaming, others will follow paths. It's all determined by what mob you're talking about, if they are involved in a quest, whether or not they are hostile and so forth.” (Jiisu Domorael, FP 5 Sep 06)

“We're also considering the adoption of different server types to cater to players who prefer pvp or pve.” (Jiisu Domorael, FP 3 Sep 06)

“Kaos War will have meaningful PvP out the Gate.” (Damon FP 31 Jul 06)

“What we might be incorporating is a type of states of damage. None, Light, Medium, Serious, Crippled, Incapacitated” (Damon Grow, FP 21 Jul 06)

“In fact it's safe to say camping will get you nowhere as there is no typical "spawning" in this game.” (Loren, FP 1 Apr 06)

“Open PvP is encouraged. You can only gain ranks by killing the other 2 enemy factions. Demons can kill Demons, but won't necessarily benefit from it in whole.( This is pending). (CJ, FP 28 Dec 05)

“One shot kills will be difficult. There are skills in the game that require a really high amount of aiming skill, but if landed properly could seriously cripple or kill an enemy, depending on spec. We want to stay away from super fast killing, otherwise the gear acquired will seem meaningless.” (CJ, FP 28 Dec 05)

Questing and Raiding

“Quests and storylines shift and have impact depending on what you have accomplished both for your faction and individually. Players define their faction's destiny in more ways than one.” (Damon, The Game Musketeer, 26 Feb 07)

“We still believe strongly in allowing players to shape their own universe, and that we're merely giving them the tools to do it.” (Damon, The Game Musketeer, 26 Feb 07)

There is no set number for how many people are needed for a raid. (Jiisu Domorael, FP 17 Aug 06)

Damon then confirmed that raid difficulty will be based on “Dynamic mob tuning based on group strength” (FP, Aug 27 06)

[Moloch]

Updated 26 Feb 07.

[Shadeonyx]

The more I hear of your ideas, the more psyched I am to see this game move forward, awesome work guys, keep it up!!

Shade

[hanstin]

These arent idea's these are collected information wich wil highlikely be in the game