Infinity (MMOG)

Infinity
Developer(s)	I-Novae Studios[1][2] Flavien Brebion Keith Newton
Engine	I-Novae
Platform(s)	Windows XP/Vista/7
Release date(s)	To Be Announced
Genre(s)	MMOG/Space Simulation/Space Sandbox
Mode(s)	MMO
Distribution	Client

Infinity is an upcoming space massively multiplayer online game being developed by I-Novae Studios. In Infinity, the player controls a spacecraft and travels throughout a galaxy trying to make a name for themselves. Players will be able to connect to an online server on which large numbers of other people are playing in a persistent world.^[3]

A combat prototype was launched in 2006, with two gameplay videos being released in 2010.^[4] In 2013, the development team announced plans to fund Infinity: Battlescape, a space combat game, through Kickstarter.^[4]

Gameplay

A screenshot of a planet during the game's development

Gameplay is inspired by the 1984 space simulation game Elite 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. However, both have different game features resulting in different gameplay. Infinity does not focus on combat as much as 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 many other massively multiplayer online games set in space.^[5] Instead, the game is open-ended, and the player can engage in either aggressive or peaceful styles of playing.^[6] Also, unlike Elite, the player can land on planets and see their landscapes like in Elite's sequels Frontier: Elite II and Frontier: First Encounters (Elite 3).^[7]

Planets and systems

A screenshot on a planet's surface during the game's development

Like Elite, Infinity will offer a vast number of systems and planets. The universe will consist of approximately 200 billion star 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. This does not mean that each player will generate a random universe to explore on their own, but rather that each player's client will generate a universe identical to everyone else's, creating an effect similar to the non-procedural design of most standard massively multiplayer online games. 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 many space based computer games, realistic scales and distances are maintained, and planetary bodies move realistically about their stars.^[8]

Client

Like most independent massively multiplayer online games, Infinity will not be sold in brick and mortar retail. Instead the player will download the client from the internet.^[9] Although no official version of the game has been released yet, a combat prototype was released in 2006 to test the combat system as well as various technical implementations.^[10]

Infinity Combat Prototype

The Infinity Combat Prototype is a standalone game that was released in May 2006^[4] and improved upon until July 2007 as a way to test some components of Infinity before it is finished. It is a separate program that only shares the engine, and as such it does not represent what would be found in Infinity. Its goal was to test the graphics engine, the physics engine, and the networking engine, and to experiment with its controls, combat mechanics and balance, to measure performance, and to improve stability and fix bugs. 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 intended open-ended, "sandbox" style of play.^[11]

Infinity: Battlescape

In 2013 the game's developers announced that a multiplayer combat game Infinity: Battlescape would be attempting to raise funding on Kickstarter at some time in 2014.^[12]

The development blog described the game to be an arena-based shooter in space. However, due to the capabilities of the I-Novae engine, this "arena" will take the form of a realistically scaled solar system. On a basic level, it is planned to focus on combat in the Infinity universe. Stretch goals, including an economy and mining, as well as detailed interaction with planets and moons are being considered. An interactive technical demo of the I-Novae engine is planned to be released alongside the KickStarter campaign.

Development

All of the programming work for the game is being undertaken by Flavien Brebion. Planet terrain, star systems and a galaxy will all be created using procedural generation. Many game assets will not, however, be generated procedurally. These include 3D models of ships and structures, textures, and music. The remainder of the development team is employed in the production of these assets.^[13]

The business model and subscription plans have not been made available to the public at this time. The Infinity developer team have expressed the intention to keep the opportunity for a free and unlimited trial, but to make all of the game's content only available to paying players.^[14]

References

External links

• Official website