RELEASE NOTES FOR EMPIRIANA COMMERCIAL VERSION APR 98 1.9
3/25/98
This release includes numerous bug fixes and refinements, in addition to the beta introduction of the long awaited Challenge Arena. While the arena is 100% functional in this build, it is being labeled as a beta version because we have not been able to test the behavior of the arena servers for extended periods under excessive loads. We do have further refinements and enhancements to be released with the final non-beta release with in the next few weeks.
The most significant change in the arena from conventional battles in the dungeon, is the real time nature of the arena. Players in the arena do not have to wait for their turn, players may move anywhere, at any time. Players may also cast spells, go to their inventory screen to drink potions, or attack at any time. The arena is a very exciting fast paced competitive environment and makes a perfect compliment for the user defined pace of combat in the dungeon.
This installment of the Challenge Arena contains but one of many planned types of competitions. The main objective of this first arena game, is to defend your team's "Gate" while attempting to destroy the Gates of the opposing 2 teams. There are 3 teams in every arena match, though there is no requirement that all three teams have players in order to play a match. The 3 teams are: Fire, Ice, and Air. A Team wins by eliminating all enemy gates while protecting their own gate from destruction. Once the 2 opposing gates have been destroyed, a 60 second timer starts counting down. If the pending winning team's gate is not destroyed or one of the destroyed gates fully repaired by the time the counter reaches 0, that team wins the match. If the pending winning team's gate is destroyed before the counter reaches 0, the count is stopped and that team is no longer the pending winner. After all 3 gates have been destroyed, the first team to restore their gate to full health becomes the pending winner and the 60 second timer is started. At the end of the match, a statistics screen is displayed which details match records and personal statistics for the match. Once the beta period for the arena is complete, the ranking areas will be opened where ongoing lists of champions will be available.
Matches have a time limit of 15 minutes. If no team meets the winning conditions by the time the 15 minutes is up, the match is considered a draw. Future enhancements may allow the creator of a match to specific this time limit in addition to other match parameters.
Messages may be directed to a specific team. The destination team for your default message destination can be toggled with the Page Down key or by left clicking on the destination indicator box above the arrow keys on the combat screen.
A damaged gate will regenerate health about every 15 seconds unless it is destroyed. A destroyed gate does not regenerate at all. Gates may also be healed by healing spells and players on the same team as the gate. Players may heal their own gate only if they do not have a range weapon equipped. Players heal their team's gate by approaching the gate and using the attack button (either clicking the button on the screen or hitting the INS/Num Pag 0 key.
It is strongly suggested that you do not run any other programs at the same time that you play in the arena. The arena is a very CPU and graphics system intensive part of Empiriana and for best results, do not hinder Empiriana's performance by forcing it to share CPU and system resources with other programs. Additionally, it is recommended that players in an arena match refrain from Alt+Tab or Control+ESC 'ing out of Empiriana while in a match. Not only can this cause problems for the software, but it can also mean instant death in the real time arena. It is perfectly safe to tab out while in the arena lobby or the end of match statistics screen.
Currently Arena Matches are limited to 12 players per match. This will be raised in the future as we monitor server and client loads under normal play conditions.
There are two different playing grids available in this beta release. The Small Cage and a Core Battle. The Small Cage is a smaller map where players from all teams are channeled into a small area and forced to fight in close quarters. The Core Battle is a little bit larger play area with several different routes around the grid. Playing grids can be very large up to 400 times larger than the 12x12 play grid found in the dungeon. None of the beta grids are anywhere near this large. Over the next few weeks we will introduce additional larger grids. Grids are stored on the server and fed to the client software in a very compact notation upon demand. This enables us to bring more grids online without the need for a patch or a server restart.
Commands during combat in an arena match:
TAB - Toggles the display of player names or levels
Page Down/Num Pad 3 - Toggles message destinations between All Players, Fire Team, Ice Team, and Air Team
Arrow Keys - The Arrow Keys control movement in the same manner as battles in the dungeon
Delete/Num Pad . - Toggles the attack mode for the currently equipped weapon (Hack, Swing, Lethal, etc)
Magic, targeting, and attacking are handled in an identical fashion to dungeon combat, with the exception that a turn for the purposes of spell duration is about 15 seconds.
Brigands have a special ability in the arena, they are able to blend into shadows and become invisible if they remain stationary for 30 seconds. Brigands thus cloaked are not visible by any player. However a player trying to walk over a cloaked brigand will find that they can't move to the square the brigand occupies. As soon as the cloaked player makes any action (move, turn, attack, cast, etc.) they become visible again. The cloaking for brigands is automatic and not player controlled.
Also changed in this release, is the way attacks upon other players in a party are handled. Players traveling in the dungeon will no longer be able to inflict damage on other players. Players now have the arena as an area to compete against one another, so damage among party members in the dungeon is now disabled.
This is an interim release notes covering the basics of the arena. The Empiriana user's manual will be updated shortly to reflect all the details of the arena. Should you encounter additional problems or have additional questions, please do not hesitate to let us know at info@irealms.com
