rudedog
10-17-2008, 03:57 PM
http://www.fpsadmin.com/gallery/main.php/d/4467-1/blackshot.png
I would like to thank GM Dschang, Product Manager and Game Master for Blackshot for taking the time to answer a few questions we had for them. I would also like to thank the following members who submitted questions as well (bullet-worm, HIS-MOTHER, PST-Joker and GaSplat)
- You can also find exclusive new screen shots of the new content in our gallery (http://www.fpsadmin.com/gallery/main.php?g2_itemId=4945).
Can you tell us a bit about Outspark?http://www.fpsadmin.com/gallery/main.php/d/4951-1/blackshot_cbt2_01.jpgOutspark: We're a games publisher company that publishes and operates engaging online multiplayer games. We feature a portfolio of immersive free-to-play games and related content, including our hit MMORPGs Fiesta and Secret of the Solstice, our competitive snowboarding title Project Powder, and Blackshot, of course. We're building an online destination where members come for the games and stay for the community.
Can you tell us a little about Blackshot and how it came to be?Outspark: As a publisher we looked at what genres our players were really looking forward to, and saw that the FPS genre was very popular amongst our
playerbase. We then looked into a variety of games that decided that
Blackshot was the best free-to-play shooter on the market.
What's the hardest part of developing a free online FPS game?Outspark: The hardest aspects of developing a free online FPS are the same as developing any other FPS – making sure our game is balanced, providing
powerful anti-cheat measures, and ensuring our game is fun, of course. :-)
http://www.fpsadmin.com/gallery/main.php/d/4963-1/blackshot_cbt2_07.jpgWhy the limited time beta (limited in hours of the day)?Outspark: Correct. As you know, our development partners are located in Korea. In the first Closed Beta Test it was important to monitor the game
servers to see how they are performing. These breaks in time give us a chance to regroup and patch the game if needed.
I've noticed some connection issues when playing, seems to be some latency/lag. Have you determined if this is from the netcode or the client's
connection?Outspark: During the first Closed Beta we noticed many players in our community had similar concerns regarding game latency. We always pride ourselves on putting our community's feedback first, so we made addressing this issue our top priority. The development team has been working very hard to optimize the netcode and correct the issues we saw during the first Closed Beta. Now we'll be running a second Closed Beta Test (Friday, October 17th to Thursday, October 23rd) to test all of our improvements!
How is optimizing the game going? Are you running into any problems?Outspark: The main problem that we have seen is the latency issue, which the developers have implemented some fixes for. The major focus of this upcoming beta will be to test these fixes and to see how it affects the players.
Have you determined the max player count?Outspark: The max player for a game is 16 players (8 per team) for both Search & Destroy and Capture the Flag, and 4 players for Bunker Defense.
What are the game types we'll see in the final game, when released?Outspark: There will be three game types, Search and Destroy, which is a classic team based objective mode. One team is tasked with bombing the objective, while the other team has to defend it.
Another popular game mode is Capture the Flag. Both teams will try to capture the other team's flag while defending their own. The last mode in the game is Bunker Defense. This is a PVE mode where you and up to 3 other friends have to defend a bunker for a set time from an onslaught of AI mobs.
All three game types are currently available in the beta. We do not have any other game modes ready for launch, but more may be added in the future.
Anti cheat. Will there be any A/C either server side (better) or client side?Outspark: We will have anti-cheat software that will be both server and client side. The software that we will use, Xtrap was integrated in the first Closed Beta and will continue to be the Anti-Cheat software used for Blackshot.
Servers? Will the consumer be able to set up their own server or will only hosted on your servers?Outspark: Unfortunately players will not be able to setup their own servers. One of the reasons behind this is so that we can track player's experience and statistics in each game that they participate in.
Are there any plans to offer the community the ability to mod the game in any way?Outspark: There are currently no plans for this. We'll constantly be releasing new content once the game's goes live and listening closely to player's comments and concerns in order to make Blackshot the game the community demands.
Do you have plans on upcoming mods or expansions to the base game?Outspark: The free online games live their life with steady and consistent updates to the game in the form of fresh content (new game features, new items), bug fixes, etc. Free online games are an ongoing service from the time of release. The release of the product is just the beginning. It is a constantly evolving product!
What are your future update plans for the game (while in beta and when released)?Outspark: In this next Closed Beta we are releasing one new map and two new primary weapons. As we continue into open beta, we'll be releasing new maps, weapons, items, and modes on a regular schedule over the game's lifecycle, so there'll always be something new to experience.
How will you be monetizing the game? Will you sell upgrades, offer in game ads, pre game ads or sell weapon upgrades?Outspark: There will be items sold that will enhance your game experience. Our major concern was not to sell items that would enable players to be overpowered. We goal is to keep the game balanced for all players, whether or not they decide to spend money. We are also strategizing and planning other ways to commercialize this game.
When can we expect the next round of the beta and will it be opened to the general public?Outspark: The 2nd Closed Beta will be open to the public. It will begin this Friday, October 17th and run till Thursday, October 23rd. The full schedule of the beta is available at www.playblackshot.com (http://www.playblackshot.com)
Again i would like to thank the guys over at Outspark for answering all the questions we sent over. While I'm not a CS type gamer Blachshot is a game you can jump in for a quick game or spend a few hour and still have a lot of fun.
Looking forward to how this turns out and what Outspark has in store for this game and future FPS games.
I would like to thank GM Dschang, Product Manager and Game Master for Blackshot for taking the time to answer a few questions we had for them. I would also like to thank the following members who submitted questions as well (bullet-worm, HIS-MOTHER, PST-Joker and GaSplat)
- You can also find exclusive new screen shots of the new content in our gallery (http://www.fpsadmin.com/gallery/main.php?g2_itemId=4945).
Can you tell us a bit about Outspark?http://www.fpsadmin.com/gallery/main.php/d/4951-1/blackshot_cbt2_01.jpgOutspark: We're a games publisher company that publishes and operates engaging online multiplayer games. We feature a portfolio of immersive free-to-play games and related content, including our hit MMORPGs Fiesta and Secret of the Solstice, our competitive snowboarding title Project Powder, and Blackshot, of course. We're building an online destination where members come for the games and stay for the community.
Can you tell us a little about Blackshot and how it came to be?Outspark: As a publisher we looked at what genres our players were really looking forward to, and saw that the FPS genre was very popular amongst our
playerbase. We then looked into a variety of games that decided that
Blackshot was the best free-to-play shooter on the market.
What's the hardest part of developing a free online FPS game?Outspark: The hardest aspects of developing a free online FPS are the same as developing any other FPS – making sure our game is balanced, providing
powerful anti-cheat measures, and ensuring our game is fun, of course. :-)
http://www.fpsadmin.com/gallery/main.php/d/4963-1/blackshot_cbt2_07.jpgWhy the limited time beta (limited in hours of the day)?Outspark: Correct. As you know, our development partners are located in Korea. In the first Closed Beta Test it was important to monitor the game
servers to see how they are performing. These breaks in time give us a chance to regroup and patch the game if needed.
I've noticed some connection issues when playing, seems to be some latency/lag. Have you determined if this is from the netcode or the client's
connection?Outspark: During the first Closed Beta we noticed many players in our community had similar concerns regarding game latency. We always pride ourselves on putting our community's feedback first, so we made addressing this issue our top priority. The development team has been working very hard to optimize the netcode and correct the issues we saw during the first Closed Beta. Now we'll be running a second Closed Beta Test (Friday, October 17th to Thursday, October 23rd) to test all of our improvements!
How is optimizing the game going? Are you running into any problems?Outspark: The main problem that we have seen is the latency issue, which the developers have implemented some fixes for. The major focus of this upcoming beta will be to test these fixes and to see how it affects the players.
Have you determined the max player count?Outspark: The max player for a game is 16 players (8 per team) for both Search & Destroy and Capture the Flag, and 4 players for Bunker Defense.
What are the game types we'll see in the final game, when released?Outspark: There will be three game types, Search and Destroy, which is a classic team based objective mode. One team is tasked with bombing the objective, while the other team has to defend it.
Another popular game mode is Capture the Flag. Both teams will try to capture the other team's flag while defending their own. The last mode in the game is Bunker Defense. This is a PVE mode where you and up to 3 other friends have to defend a bunker for a set time from an onslaught of AI mobs.
All three game types are currently available in the beta. We do not have any other game modes ready for launch, but more may be added in the future.
Anti cheat. Will there be any A/C either server side (better) or client side?Outspark: We will have anti-cheat software that will be both server and client side. The software that we will use, Xtrap was integrated in the first Closed Beta and will continue to be the Anti-Cheat software used for Blackshot.
Servers? Will the consumer be able to set up their own server or will only hosted on your servers?Outspark: Unfortunately players will not be able to setup their own servers. One of the reasons behind this is so that we can track player's experience and statistics in each game that they participate in.
Are there any plans to offer the community the ability to mod the game in any way?Outspark: There are currently no plans for this. We'll constantly be releasing new content once the game's goes live and listening closely to player's comments and concerns in order to make Blackshot the game the community demands.
Do you have plans on upcoming mods or expansions to the base game?Outspark: The free online games live their life with steady and consistent updates to the game in the form of fresh content (new game features, new items), bug fixes, etc. Free online games are an ongoing service from the time of release. The release of the product is just the beginning. It is a constantly evolving product!
What are your future update plans for the game (while in beta and when released)?Outspark: In this next Closed Beta we are releasing one new map and two new primary weapons. As we continue into open beta, we'll be releasing new maps, weapons, items, and modes on a regular schedule over the game's lifecycle, so there'll always be something new to experience.
How will you be monetizing the game? Will you sell upgrades, offer in game ads, pre game ads or sell weapon upgrades?Outspark: There will be items sold that will enhance your game experience. Our major concern was not to sell items that would enable players to be overpowered. We goal is to keep the game balanced for all players, whether or not they decide to spend money. We are also strategizing and planning other ways to commercialize this game.
When can we expect the next round of the beta and will it be opened to the general public?Outspark: The 2nd Closed Beta will be open to the public. It will begin this Friday, October 17th and run till Thursday, October 23rd. The full schedule of the beta is available at www.playblackshot.com (http://www.playblackshot.com)
Again i would like to thank the guys over at Outspark for answering all the questions we sent over. While I'm not a CS type gamer Blachshot is a game you can jump in for a quick game or spend a few hour and still have a lot of fun.
Looking forward to how this turns out and what Outspark has in store for this game and future FPS games.