Robocraft

Robocraft
Developer(s)	Freejam Games
Designer(s)	Mark Simmons
Programmer(s)	Edward Fowler, Brian O’Connor, Sebastiano Mandala
Artist(s)	Richard Turner
Engine	Unity 4
Platform(s)	Microsoft Windows, OS X (Mac OS), Linux
Release date(s)	March 2013 (alpha)
Genre(s)	Vehicular combat, Physics-based simulation, Third-person shooter, Strategy
Mode(s)	Single-player, Multiplayer
Distribution	Digital distribution

Robocraft is a creative building and vehicle shooter game set on fictional areas of different planets where players create fighting machines which are used to fight online in simulated vehicular combat. It is currently an open-alpha game, and is being developed and published by the indie video game developer Freejam Games based in the United Kingdom. The game features contained garages in which players can build various functional vehicles with very basic parts (such as cubes and wheels) along with weapons that can be used for combat. The initial alpha build was released in March 2013, featuring a single-player building and test mode. In April 2013, Freejam Games released multiplayer combat. Content updates and bug fixes for the game are released a few times each month. On April 14, 2014, the company revealed that Robocraft had gained over 300,000 players in a few months; the game continues to attract many players, notably, international players from non-English speaking countries.^[1][2] It is also available as a Steam platform release.^[3]

Gameplay

Robocraft is a "build, drive, fight" game where the players engage in online battles in order to gain Robot Points (RP) and Tech Points (TP) to further advance their robotic vehicles. With Tech Points, the player can unlock better armour blocks, hardware, and weapons from a tech tree, which they can then purchase with Robot Points. Parts can also be purchased with "Galaxy Cash", an in-game currency that must be purchased for real money; some cosmetic items are only purchasable with Galaxy Cash. The player is given the freedom to customize their vehicle or robot in any way they like, as long as it does not exceed their in-game CPU limit (obscene or offensive models are also banned under the terms and conditions). The player's CPU limit increases as the player levels up, and it restricts the player from adding too many blocks to their vehicle. Robots are also placed into Tiers based on an arbitrary rating assigned to each part. There are ten Tiers, from T1 to T10, (with a special TX-1 tier for Megabots which can join T9 and T10 battles) and each has its own separate Tech Points pool; so Tech Points earned with a Tier 2 robot can only be used to purchase Tier 2 upgrades (although Tech Points can be converted to "Uber" using Galaxy Cash, and can then be used to buy any upgrade regardless of tier).

The game features a part-based damage model, where the basic parts of the vehicles must be destroyed with weapons in order to achieve a kill over an opponent. The player's team will win once all enemy vehicles are destroyed. Alternatively, players can capture the enemy's base to win the game. There are several different weapon classes (Subatomic Machine Gun, Plasma Launcher, Rail Cannon, Nanotech Disruptor and Tesla Blades) and several propulsion types (Thrusters, Wheels, Caterpillar Tracks, Hover Blades, Aerofoils, Rudders, Walker Legs, and Rotor Blades). While weapons cannot be mix-and-matched, with the exception of the Tesla Blades, propulsion systems can.

Robocraft has four battle types (Practice, Multiplayer, Challenge Mode, and Megaboss Mode). Players can only acquire RP and TP through Multiplayer, Challenge Mode and Megaboss Mode; Practice mode is so that the player to test their robot before battle. In Challenge Mode, a group of up to 20 lower-tier robots face off against four robots that are Tier 6 or higher; rewards in Challenge Mode are much higher than standard fights, though there is a four hour timer on Challenge Mode, for Challengers. In Megaboss Mode, a group of up to 30 lower-tier robots face off against a Megabot.

The player can friend other players or add up to 2 other players to their platoon (3 total, up to 4 with a premium subscription), meaning that they can be guaranteed to fight on the same team in the same battle as the other people in the platoon.

As well as enemy radars and radar jammers, the game features a "spotting" mechanic, allowing players to highlight a specific enemy and alert their team-mates to that enemy's presence, as well as telling them its weaponry and method of propulsion. A player who has been spotted by a rail cannon has an exclamation mark appear on their UI along with a siren sound.

A November 2014 update added EasyAntiCheat (EAC) software to the game's client, in order to counter various hacks such as zero reload time. Freejam has stated that the EAC team will focus on anti-cheating, allowing them to focus on new features. A major game update was released on December 9, 2014, adding Tank Tracks and Tesla Blades, a unique melee weapon, alongside several new features.

On February 18, 2015, the "Dawn of the Megabots" update was released.^[4] This features a wide array of updates including new matching systems. "Megaboss" and "Challenge Mode",and rotor blades were introduced to let players construct "New helicopter style Copter Class Robots." These were all introduced alongside many new updates.

On April 30th, 2015, the game received another large update,^[5] which completely changed the core gameplay. The robot-building remained unchanged, but the battles were given new mechanics, such as Protonium Crystals that must be destroyed instead of the previous goal of capturing the enemy base. Also added were Fusion Shields, SCU's, Fusion Towers, and Overclocking, as well as other changes such as rebalancing armor and healing.

Forums

Many forums are available for players such as the Steam forums, Robocraft forums and Tieba, a Chinese forum with approx. 5000 players.

Development

Robocraft uses the Unity engine and Yahoo Games Network.

Monetization

Robocraft is a Free-to-play game where players can get to the end game "without even paying a cent".^[6] All content that can be acquired which affects gameplay can be acquired through play. "Premium" memberships can be purchased which double the rate at which RP and TP are earned, and also provide a 5% RP boost to everyone in battle, but a paid membership isn't required. Some in-game cubes can be purchased with real money but the players must unlock access to those cubes through actual gameplay. There are also cosmetic cubes (country flags, masks, vapor trails, and robot name banners.) that can be unlocked with real money, but these have no real function.

Critical reception

Rock Paper Shotgun described the game as "good for a few hours of light and casual fun".^[7]

In December 2014, Robocraft was voted, by users of the IndieDB website, the number one independent game of 2014; earning the prestigious accolade "Indie Game of the Year".^[8]

After EasyAntiCheat was added to the game's client, there was discussion within the Robocraft community about the spyware-like qualities of EAC. Some players even requested EAC to be removed from Robocraft entirely in fear of having their computer scanned and screenshotted. Robocraft responded by explaining in full detail what information Roboshield/EAC captures, what that information is used for and with whom it is shared. The short list consists of username, IP address, HardwareID and executable code memory.^[9]

References

External links

• Game Website
• Robocraft wiki on Gamepedia
• EasyAntiCheat

Community

• French community