Lore Aftermath - back to our roots..

So the title of this post is a little huh? I am sure for people who don't know the Max Gaming team, but as a short history on a few of us here at Max Gaming before we got the developer bug I will take us back about 20 years :)

Myself and Ed both have spent roughly 20 years being mech fans, even to the point where I ran resource based leagues for MW2, MW3 and MW4 for well a long time :) Others on the team are also big mech fans (just not as old as we are).

When we first started down the road of starting Max Gaming to build multi-player PC games, our first project was Dark Horizons - Lore a persistent multi-player game which featured something we all loved, Mechs. This game at the time was a pure labor of love, something that 6 or 7 of us stuck together for 2 years to get to launch, and an additional 6 months to refine even farther as DH Lore: Invasion.

During that time period we were very focused on making the game ease of access, fast paced, something with a easy learning curve. And to that end as a NOOB!! developers I believe we did a outstanding job. we have built up a loyal set of base players, some which actively play, some of which actively are waiting on the next release, and some which have really become icons of that community.

With all that said, I always felt that we could have pushed it further towards our experiences in the mech genres, made it more simulation oriented but keep a relatively easy learning curve and fast paced action.

So after getting the nod to get a new version of Lore up on InstantAction.com I was determined to get "back to our roots" as mech game players.

In this new chapter in the Dark Horizons Universe, Lore: Aftermath we have went back and made some BIG changes.

Basic concepts of re-design

#1 - Make MAVs big hulking machines of destruction (check)

#2 - Customization is KEY!!!! (Let players individualize their MAVs with skins, insignias, decals, weapons)

#3 - Community (One of the strengths of the first Lore) Get the players input early and often (NOTE: we have been having players in a private testing for 3 months already)

#4 - Stick to what makes the game FUN!!!! (subject of beta app forum "I wanna blow things up")

Obviously there are more that went into making Aftermath, but these key 4 elements have been our driving force during development. All concepts that really have brought MGT as a company back to its roots.

Re-design of the Mechanized Assault Vehicle (more to come from Logan Foster from the art aspect)

In DH Lore: Invasion MAVS were small (about 6 meters tall or so), unmanned, remotely controlled machines of war. Very fast, especially for a Giant Robot and able to deliver some pretty decent firepower.

This was and still is a very cool concept, but in Aftermath we really wanted to get back to the roots on mech gaming the BFR (BIG GIANT ROBOT). Besides just being COOL, we wanted the player to connect more with their machine of war, and what better way of doing that, then putting the pilot back into the battlefield.

The MALICE assault chassis:


The other major change in the new retooled MAV is the level off customization a player has the ability to do. Of course we provide a myriad of pre-configed MAVs for those who just want to jump into battle, but for the tweaker in all of us Giant Robot fans we really have tried to make it easy.


Players can design the mav from chassis up able to pick engines, auxiliary equipment (jumpjets, turrets deployers etc..) a myriad of weaponry to a variety of base paints, unit insignias and decals.

Community

You can't have a online game that doesn't have a community, so one of the things I am really excited about is the integration with InstantAction.com. As a company who has built systems into our past games to help the community engage each other, I have great respect for what the folks working on InstantAction.com are providing us as a developer.

Another aspect of community that we really foster is getting players involved, finding out what they want, how they feel about gameplay and the group of private testers we currently have has been instrumental in helping us bring Aftermath home.

Wrapping it up

As I am horrid at doing blogs I feel I should wrap this one up, and save the more for another date. I invite anyone who is interested in finding more out about the game to head on over to www.loreaftermath.com We are still adding content, especially in the game info area, but please stop by, sign up on the forums and make yourself at home.

CALL FOR TESTERS!!! almost forgot, we are still accepting testers into the fold so head on over to www.loreaftermath.com and register yourself in the "I wanna blow things up" forum.