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'The Omega Project' Announced - Screens

by Rainier on Dec. 28, 2005 @ 3:15 a.m. PST

The Omega Project is a CRPG set in the extreme distant future of earth in development under DarkEdge Studios. Even though many CRPG’s are looked down upon by the usual P-n-P role players out there, due to most CRPG games having the main focus set on beefing up the main character and ultimately losing the whole point of roleplaying, TOP will be adding much more role playing aspects to hopefully please both sides (thanks RPGDot).

The game will be viewed in the good old fashioned isometric viewpoint like that of Fallout, hopefully bringing a revolution in the RPG genre and ultimately bringing back games that have more depth to them then the ones mostly found in this day and age. Utilizing an in-house built engine from the very talented Chrome Can we will bring a stunningly detailed world to life for the players to explore and progress through in a bid to unravel the secrets of a world of corruption, inequality, sin and greed.

Locations in the game world take on the form of ‘layers’, which have been built by humanity as huge plates that support the ever growing population of earth. Each of these layers will hold a drastically different mood and feel to the game. Here are the layers in a bit more detail, starting from the top layer and working down to the surface of the earth :

Eden City: this is where the game begins. Eden is very technologically advanced and Mostly High Class and wealthy people live here. Large open areas support luxury gardens and parks, giving the whole city a very tranquil look to it. This is the only layer that receives sun light as we see it in our world.

Filtermetropolis: Imagine the bustling streets of Tokyo, now add flying cars and a variation of crude looking robots and less clean air. Next you throw in sex, drugs, rock and roll and mix it all together…introducing one of the most scum filled layers of the planet with a cyberpunk twist.

Taxscoom: More of a wasteland then a city as such, due to the previous war Taxscoom has been absolutely leveled to the ground. When the huge buildings fell it created a permanent dust that never settled. Gang wars rage on day and night as each one seeks to reclaim parts of the wasteland for there own…only the fittest will survive down here.

The Cell: This is a huge prison compound for criminals. Police mostly dump criminals here to rot. Special forces are stationed here to make sure no undesirable activity breaks loose. Convicts are bar coded upon arrival. This means that if they pass over the ‘no go’ area line, the inmates will be electrocuted. There’s only one problem with this place, its overcrowded!

Surface Of The Earth: Whatever you know about the surface of the earth, forget it now….

You begin the game in Eden city, currently ‘serving’ under the Eden City Police Force. I say serving as in this future being in the police is much like being in the army of this day and age. You have to sign a form so you have to stay for the duration of your work period. The main protagonist is named Rick Cypher. It is still under debate within our team if we should allow for the player to choose his own name or not as a few of the following details of the game are. You wake up to find an urgent call from the police HQ. Upon arriving you are filled in that the presidents daughter has been kidnapped and its your job to go undercover and help find out who’s behind it and probably the most important : Why they kidnapped her?. Again, that is the VERY basic plot to begin with, just like any good role playing games out there twists and turns will fill the game out nicely.

Appearance: Depending on what stats are chosen for Rick, these will effect how he appears. If the player makes him a strong guy, he will appear bulky. If the player chooses agility and guns, he will appear skinnier. Other factors affecting Rick's looks are optional implants or collectable armour.

Development: Starts with the traditional character creation screen system. Primary stats include; Power (Strength), Awareness (Perception) , Stability (Endurance), Charm (Charisma), Mentality (Intelligence), Nimbleness (Agility), and Fortune (Luck). You can choose some skills to be more experienced in at the start of the game, these include the basics from small guns, unarmed, big guns with some new ones thrown in we wont go into at this time. The character will have the classic leveling up system, so many experience points make up a level, just as it should be! There is most defiantly going to be a ‘Perk’ like system in the game as well as another “Special perk” system that we will go into in future updates.

Unarmed Combat: Unarmed combat will be interesting as one can use different styles and different mechanical add ons to enhance his fighting technique. The player will have the ability to branch off when he reaches a certain level of unarmed combat…these include kung fu, and brawler.

Graphics: The game is viewed in a fixed isometric perspective that much like Fallout and Baldurs Gate. The engine will allow for zooming in on the scene and zooming out. As previously said, there will be no rotational view what so ever, we will make the one view look as best we can. The game will hold little to no 3D models, although we are taking renders from 3D models to give the impression that the game is a very high quality 3D game.

Music: Vlad Kuryluk is currently composing the music for TOP. I feel that having actual music in the game distracts from the gameplay so we are keeping everything in the game music wise in an ambient form. Vlad was responsible for the music of Rome:TotalWar and as you can imagine we are very proud to have him in our team.

Combat: The combat system will be in real-time (Although this is going under testing). There will be a pause feature implemented to add a more tactical approach, which you will need in this game. The action will be a mix depending on the situation. Some fights will be more tactical than others. When NPCs join your team and they are injured, there portraits will show blood marks on face, scratches etc. Bullet time is under testing but could be a major possibility if pulled off correctly.

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