Wulfram 2

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Wulfram 2 (commonly referred to as just Wulfram) is a hybrid genre massively multiplayer online first-person shooter and massively multiplayer online real-time strategy game currently being developed by Bernt Habermeier and published under the name SlurpySoft (Slurpy is the pseudonym of Bernt Habermeier) using an original source code developed by Bolt-Action Software, of which Bernt Habermeier was a co-founder. Wulfram 2 is one of four known games to be developed by Bolt-Action Software, and is the only one still playable. Notable is the fact that Wulfram 2 is free to play, though the administration is accepting donations from the player-base and offering certain non-gameplay related benefits for it.

1 History
2 Genre
3 Gameplay
4 Kudos
5 Controversy/Complaints
6 See also
7 External links

[edit] History

First published in late February 2002, Wulfram 2 is the sequel to the game Wulfram (1996), developed for and published by the Total Entertainment Network (TEN), and ShockForce (1998), developed for iMagic Online (now iEntertainment Network), but never published. Wulfram 2 shares much similarity with ShockForce. The name "Wulfram 2" is being transitioned to just "Wulfram", and the name transition started in 2006. (However, the truth be known, the only difference between ShockForce and Wulfram 2 is the name, and this is due to legal reasons. Being how Slurpysoft doesn't own the rights to the name "ShockForce")

There are strict rules, some censorship to protect against racist remarks. The slogan "Free online gaming without attitude" underscores how management thinks it runs the game. Financial contributions are supposedly used by Slurpysoft to finance all aspects of game maintenance, advertising, bug fixes and improvements.

Wulfram has an active volunteer group, which includes moderators, administrative as well as creative staff.

[edit] Genre

Wulfram 2 does not fit into one specific genre, and there are few similar games, however certain first-person shooters with real-time strategy elements, such as the Natural Selection mod for Half-Life have similar game play elements.

[edit] Gameplay

Gameplay in most games of Wulfram 2 hinges around building and sustaining a base or number of bases centered around one or more "Power Cells" (PCs) which power a certain number of base items and have a circular field of effect. Power supplied by PCs is drained by base items at varying rates, and PCs cannot overlap fields, however multiple PCs can be deployed at the same point for backup use. The various base items include Gun Turrets (GTs), Flak Turrets (FTs or flaks), Missile Launchers (MLs), Fuel Pads (FPs), and Repair Pads (RPs or "reps"). Other deployable items include Darklights (DLs) and Skypumps (SPs), these two items do not require power sources.

Base items are created by and dropped onto the field of play by orbital supply ships, of which most games start with at least one, and may have a maximum of 3 for each team. Supply ships also have the capability of bombarding bases with orbital bombs, if the team has placed the ship above the target base. The game ends when one team has lost all of its Repair Pads, which serve as spawn points, and has no players remaining on the field. The supply ships functions are controlled by someone who has the Uplink, also called the Linker. The Uplink, or link, may be stolen by the other team, it is then set in self-destruct mode and detonates in thirteen minutes and is placed on order on the supply ship.

Players fulfill their role in the game by commanding one of two vehicles (Tank and Scout), and fending off players of the other team while trying to destroy their base using many varied methods depending on the situation. All vehicles have two default weapons, the Autocannon and Pulse Cannon for the Tank, and the Chain Gun and Repair Beam for the Scout. There are also several optional tertiary weapon systems, including several types of missiles, mines, floating heat-seeking bombs called caltrops, flares, and a very low damage infinite range weapon used to force enemies to move away from higher level emplacements, called the maser. All of the tertiary weapons are obtained by landing on the Fuel Pad. One player, the Linker, is usually delegated to build, maintain, and defend the base(s) by placing mines and fighting flanking enemies. The game has many strategic elements not discussed here and is highly multi-faceted and can have a high learning curve for some advanced strategies.

The other current mode of play involves single and team dueling between evenly or unevenly matched groups of players,

[edit] Kudos

Recently, a new aspect on the game was added to the game called "Kudos." The system, as it is supposed to work, is essentially an awards system run by the players. As the players play, they accumulate "Grants" that they may use to either Kudo somebody who may have performed a good team effort or a noteworthy action (base kill etc.), or Ding somebody who has done just the opposite. Dinging lowers your overall Kudo count, thus affecting your rank.

As players receive Kudos, they gain ranks. By gaining ranks, you increase your grant rate and your spot on the overall score list. This can work the other way around by accumulating dings, thus decreasing your rank.

[edit] Controversy/Complaints

Wulfram 2's developer for many years has looked down on non-donating players [1] and has insisted on being financed before developing the game engine any further. This has not helped to grow the active player base which is currently very small [2]. Originally designed for Glide_API, Wulfram 2 currently possesses no 3D acceleration and instead runs on a 10+ year old software rendering engine. A long unfinished Direct3D client is available to paying customers [3] of the game.