Ten Ton Hammer - Taking MMO Gamers to the Next Level!

Ten Ton Hammer: Many players would argue that a sci-fi MMOG is incomplete without some sort of spaceship gameplay included in its features. Will there be any sort of starfighter combat for players to engage in? If so, will players be limited to starfighters or will there be capital ships as well?

Vizual F/X: Yes. Crusades implementation of Spacecraft will have defined function and abilities ranging from Scout ships to large Capital ships. The ‘Homeworld’ chapter will enable players to skill up and learn how to play the game, and then in our next chapter, spaceships will be added to enable players to colonize other worlds and beyond.

There will be plenty of ship-based activities in Crusades.

Ten Ton Hammer: As one of your key features, you list an “open ended leveling system.” Can you explain this in a bit more detail for our readers? How does this work?

Vizual F/X: Players will start out as a Novice, and then skill-up through the first Profession tier which is called “Guardian Class.”  At ‘Guardian Master,’ they may skill-up on into ‘Knight Class’ followed by ‘Lord Class’ and then ‘Destiny Class’ and then upwards from ‘Novice Crusader’ through ‘Master Crusader.’  (Beyond this cannot be disclosed at this time due to our NDA).

Ten Ton Hammer: Another big selling point for Crusades is the idea of “unlimited exploration potential.” What does this mean and how are you insuring that players will continually be able to explore their world?

Vizual F/X: As one community member eloquently put it – it’s an opportunity for players to ‘find their own hiding place in the universe.’ Now imagine that the planets themselves are various sizes, and allow for massive amounts of player settlements that may eventually build up into player owned empires where you might log on one day to discover that your city is under attack (or visa versa). In this case, one could possibly bloom to become a symbol of power in the Crusades Universe.  Now realize that out there - beyond that world - are more and more solar systems with more and more planets and more and more resources and then you can begin to understand the exponents behind ‘unlimited exploration potential.’

The Crusades is hoping to really grasp the "explore" concept that was there in the early days of science fiction culture.

Ten Ton Hammer: What about crafting? Many players would argue that the ability to craft weapons and/or armor is an essential portion of the gameplay. What kind of crafting system are you going to be using in your game?

Vizual F/X: Initially players will craft items that have templates and schematics in the game.  Later, we plan to allow for player submitted schematics and other items such as Armor, Structures, Spaceships, Weapons, and Food Recipes.

Ten Ton Hammer: Can you give us some details on your business model? What are enhanced subscription tiers?

Vizual F/X: There will be a Free Player Trial that will be on the Free Trial Server, but players choosing to keep their trial player-characters may transfer to the Crusades official unified-server, however they will port over with no credits or gear and only the default jumpsuit.  The second option is an ‘Enhanced Subscription,’ which allows for a player to build out an entire solar system of their own.

Ten Ton Hammer: Is there anything else you’d like to tell the Ten Ton Hammer readers and Crusades fans?

Vizual F/X: At Vizual F/X Studios, people from the top down involved in the development of Crusades actively participates with the community through discussion.  We invite you to visit our Community Forum at www.vizualfxstudios.com/forums/ and share your passion. The Vizual F/X team would like to thank ‘Ten Ton Hammer’ for this Q&A and their dedication to the MMO experience.