Infinity: The Quest for Earth

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Infinity: The Quest for Earth

Developer(s) F. Brebion
Engine I-Novae
Platform(s) Windows XP/Vista
Release date To Be Announced
Genre(s) MMORPG/Space Simulation
Mode(s) MMO
Media Client
System requirements (For Infinity Combat Prototype)

1.8 GHz Intel or Equivalent processor; 512 MB RAM; 256 video RAM Vertex Shader/Pixel Shader 2.0 compatible;

Infinity: The Quest for Earth is a new space MMORPG being developed by Flavien Brebion and a small group of developers and contributors. In Infinity, the player controls a spacecraft and travels throughout the entire galaxy trying to make a name for him/herself. Since the game is a MMORPG, the player connects to an online server on which any number of people are playing in a persistent world. [1]

Contents

[edit] Development

All of the programming work for the game is being undertaken by Flavien Brebion. Planet terrain, star systems and a model of the Milky Way galaxy will all be created using procedural generation. Many game assets will not be generated procedurally however. These include 3D models of ships and structures, textures, concept art and music. The remainder of the development team is employed in the production of these assets.[2] Additionally, many contributions of 3D models have been received from enthusiastic amateurs. This is encouraged by the development team and is similar to the practice of crowd sourcing.

[edit] Gameplay

Gameplay is inspired by an older space simulation game called Elite made by David Braben and Ian Bell. Like Elite, the player travels throughout the vast galaxy to fight, trade, explore and develop their character through missions, bounties, etc. Another game that can be compared to Infinity is EVE Online as they are both online space games. However, both have different game features resulting in different gameplay. Infinity does not focus on combat as much as EVE Online or Elite. The combat and flight in Infinity is twitch-based (at least for smaller ships) and not at all similar to the point-and-click-based movement and combat in EVE Online.[3] Instead, the game is open-ended, and the player can engage in either aggressive or peaceful styles of playing.[4]

[edit] Planets and systems

A planet's landscape
A planet's landscape

Like Elite, Infinity will offer a vast amount of systems and planets. The universe will consist of approximately 200 billion stars systems each with an assortment of planets, moons, and smaller bodies in addition to other phenomena such as nebulae and black holes. Procedural generation is used to create this vast universe on the fly as the player moves throughout the galaxy. In addition, the engine has the ability to automatically adjust planetary level of detail so that the player can seamlessly move from orbit to ground level without loading screens. Unlike in many space based computer games, realistic scales and distances are maintained, and planetary bodies move realistically about their stars.[5]

[edit] Client

Like most independent MMOG, Infinity will not be found in brick and mortar retail. Instead the player will download the client from the internet. [6] Although there's not an official version of the game released yet, a combat prototype has been released to test the combat system as well as various technical implementations. [7]

[edit] Payment

The business model and subscription plans have not been made available to the public at this time. However, the Infinity developers will try to keep the game free with the option to pay for a premium account (in other words the option to pay for extra ingame content).[8]


[edit] Awards

Infinity has received the following Mod of the Year Awards from ModDB: [9]:

  • Editor's choice for the most anticipated standalone game of 2006
  • Honorable mention for the player's choice of the most anticipated mod of 2006
  • Player's choice for the standalone game of the year category (received the highest number of votes, but ineligible due to not being released yet)
  • Editor's choice of 2007

Infinity also received a Visual Delight Award from ModDB in 2006: [10]:

[edit] Infinity Combat Prototype

The Infinity Combat Prototype (latest version: 2.2.a) is a standalone game that has been released and improved upon the past months, as a way to test some components of Infinity before it is finished. It is a completely separate program that only shares the engine, and as such it does not represent what is to be found in Infinity. Its goal is, namely, to test the graphics engine, the physics engine, and the networking engine, and to experiment with its controls, combat mechanics and balance. Its goal is also to improve stability/fix bugs and measure/stress performance. The combat prototype does not include any form of planetary landing, and only ten ships are available to the players. The gameplay is arena (team vs team) based, as opposed to Infinity's open-ended, "sandbox" style of play.[11]

[edit] References

  1. ^ Infinity: The Quest for Earth : Game Information About Infinity: The Quest for Earth for PC at MMORPG.COM
  2. ^ Infinity: The Quest for Earth
  3. ^ Infinity: The Quest for Earth
  4. ^ Infinity: The Quest for Earth
  5. ^ Infinity: The Quest for Earth
  6. ^ Infinity: The Quest for Earth
  7. ^ Infinity: The Quest for Earth
  8. ^ http://www.fl-tw.com/Infinity/ :: View topic - The newb questions topic!
  9. ^ Mods of 2006 - Editors' Choice feature - Mod DB
  10. ^ Video game mods - Mod DB
  11. ^ Infinity: The Quest for Earth

[edit] Links