Questions
by Cody “Micajah” Bye, Managing Editor
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Answers
by KiJong “KJ” Kang, Huxley’s Producer,
Webzen, Inc.
As the massive multiplayer online gaming industry continues to expand,
more and more genres in video gaming are merged with the MMO acronym.
Perhaps one of the more ambitious projects to earn MMO dubbing is
Webzen’s upcoming MMOFPS Huxley.
Recently, Ten Ton Hammer’s Cody “Micajah”
Bye had the chance to ask a list of questions to Webzen’s
KiJong “KJ” Kang about his upcoming MMO title.
Without disappointing KJ gave tremendously detailed answers about
Huxley, so
many that we are splitting his interview into two parts! If
you have an interest in MMOFPSes, make sure you keep your browser
pointed at Ten Ton Hammer!
Ten Ton Hammer: It has
been a long time since the Ten Ton Hammer readers have heard anything
about your upcoming MMOFPS, Huxley.
What have you been focusing on in the game? Have there been any big
improvements and/or changes in the last few months?
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Huxley is one of the
more recent MMOFPSes.
KJ: During
the past several months, we have focused on shaping
style="font-style: italic;">Huxley as a game
that can be enjoyed without struggling to adopt the new concepts within
the game. For instance, in the very early stages of gameplay, we
provide PvE quests that let players hone their fragging skills against
Hybrid (the NPC monster race) mobs. Although
style="font-style: italic;">Huxley offers
easy-to-play PvE quests in the beginning of the game, it also offers
players the chance to play the new MMO mission style PvE quests later
on. Therefore, in the early stage of gameplay, players will start with
PvE quests that follow the narratives of the game storyline and help
prepare them for the PvP battles they’ll play against other
players later in the game.
A big goal of Huxley’s
recent Korean beta testing period was to prove that we could create a
twitch-action MMOFPS where persistent cities existed –
finally bringing together all of the hard work we put into the
development process! During the past several months, we conducted
numerous tests involving not only the hardcore FPS gamers, but also the
more casual gamers who lack hyper FPS experience. We spent a lot of
time trying to make the game more user friendly, to both the more
casual MMO gamers as well as the hardcore FPS fans.
Ten Ton Hammer: How did
the developers and designers at Webzen decide to go with NHN USA as the
North American publisher for Huxley?
How long did that process take and what did it involve?
KJ: It took
more than two years to finally appoint NHN USA as the publisher for the
PC version of Huxley
in North America and Western Europe. From day one, the Western market
was the primary target market for Huxley
given the fact that it is, at its core, an FPS game with extensive MMO
elements. Therefore, we were very careful to choose the right partner
to bring Huxley
into the Western world - like a parent whose child has brought someone
home whom they want to marry and asks for an opinion. The discussion
over the last two years involved almost all the major publishers in
North America and Western Europe, and my development team and I flew to
the US numerous times to provide demonstrations and presentations for
all these publishers.
The interesting story behind finally selecting NHN USA as the publisher
for Huxley
is that, to be honest, we never expected the publisher to be NHN USA
when we first started the discussion. Rather, we were
expecting to sign a contract with one of the giant game publishers in
North America. But as we delved into deeper discussions, we
found the big publishers in North America and Western Europe, although
they might be BIG in publishing and distributing PC and console package
titles, were relative beginners when it came to hosting and servicing
server-based MMO games.
We looked for a publisher who could not only distribute the PC
packages, but also host and service
style="font-style: italic;">Huxley. We came to
the conclusion that NHN USA, which has brought American gamers a
respected online game portal with ijji.com, was the one publisher with
the appropriate experience and knowledge to successfully provide the
Huxley online game service in the North America and Europe.
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Players will be able
to engage in PvE and PvP in Huxley.
Ten Ton Hammer: Now that
you have a publisher for the North American marketplace, what sort of
release timetable do you have for Huxley?
Will the game still go through the normal alpha, closed beta, and open
beta cycles before we see it launch in North America?
KJ: We are
in serious discussions with our trusted publishing partner, NHN
USA. For questions specific to the North American launch, you
really need to speak with them.
Ten Ton Hammer: In
previous interviews, the Huxley
developers have mentioned that there will be PvE and PvP environments
within the game. How can players decide whether they’re going
into a PvE or a PvP environment? Is it all simply instanced areas that
players “zone” into?
KJ: In the
first phase of the game play, when players are moving up from level one
to seven, the game consists mostly of PvE quests. During level one, the
player is a cadet at a training post where they learn the necessary
skills required to play Huxley
through quests that are used somewhat like tutorials to familiarize the
user. These early quests involve simulated battles and can be
cleared/completed by playing solo or by forming a squad with other
players.
Once the player reaches level seven they can then move to the faction
city that they belong to, either Nostalonia for the Sapiens or Eska for
the Alternatives. At this point of the game they are able to choose
between PvE and PvP, for example player characters can obtain quests
from the NPCs in the city, take a train to battlefield or enter
simulated PvP zones depending on what they decide to do. The
battlefield quests are designed for battle scales as small as one vs.
one, and can handle up to as many as 100 vs. 100.
Ten Ton Hammer: What sort
of progression system do you have in
style="font-style: italic;">Huxley? Will
players gain experience by shooting other players? Or will progression
only occur in PvE settings?
KJ: Players
will gain experience and grow during both PvE and PvP settings, except
in levels 1-7 where players are required to advance through the PvE
quests. The classes, know as “combat
style” and consisting of Enforcer, Avenger and Phantom,
improve and become more defined and unique as the player continues
playing the game and grows their character.
Once the player reaches and completes the level cap, which is level 50
at commercial launch, and also known as the character growth stage one,
he or she will have to decide between two different further growth
models. For instance, the Enforcers that specialize in close-range
combat will have to decide whether to further specialize in that combat
style, which increases the close-range attack damage, or further
specialize in increasing their physical defense abilities.
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There will be a level
cap of 50 in Huxley.
Another important aspect of Huxley’s
character growth system is that players will have to obtain licenses
and build various license trees for such specialties as commanding,
vehicle control, mastery of particular weapons, or special skills. Even
though player one and two might have the same combat style, for example
an Enforcer, they would be specialized in different areas depending on
what licenses they have focused on. Player one could be an Enforcer who
has commanding licenses and can offer squad benefits, such as special
buffs. Player two could also be an Enforcer, but maybe he has mastered
the very strong damage weapons and uses those skills to function as the
heavy damage dealer for the squad (the grunt). Another Enforcer with
vehicle control licenses could transport multiple squads to certain
locations on the battlefield by controlling a large transport ship.
Also, certain types of armor will have skill sockets that allow players
to purchase special skills, install them onto the skill sockets of the
armor and take them to a battle. Or you can use
armor that doesn’t have skill sockets for higher shields
instead. As the player continues to grow, they will obtain
numerous special skills that are required for winning in quests within
style="font-style: italic;">Huxley –
and they will need the special armor skill sockets to enable those
skills.
To read the latest guides, news, and features you can visit our Huxley Game Page.
