Indie Browser MMO City of Steam

[CoS_Ethan]

(My personal thanks go to skipclarke, admin of WSFG, we had a very nice talk)

Hello all, I'm Ethan and I work for an indie games developer, Mechanist Games. We're working on our debut title, City of Steam, a free-to-play browser-based MMORPG.

If you are already watching City of Steam, then remember to sign up for our Newsletter (subscribers will get priority on future keys) and keep your eye on our dev journals for up-to-date game development.

To those that don't know what City of Steam is (no surprise there, we're an indie developer, so getting widespread recognition is a relatively harder for us), it's an industrial fantasy/steampunk MMORPG, lightweight enough to play on even older computers and accessible straight from your browser. Even then, thanks to Unity 3D and a lot of in-house tools, we've managed to still make it look quite impressive, and all stored in but a few megabytes!

And this isn't just some average fantasy world with a few steampunk elements thrown in, oh no! The entire world itself is a mechanism of gears and spokes, with pipes and boilers as ancient as the world itself. Current civilizations are build upon these, and these industrial aspects are simply part of the world's history and daily life; races such as humans and elves do exist, but they live alongside dwarves that are part-machine, robotic toilers that roam the land, and both magical and mechanical monstrosities that threaten their existence. You can have a better look at this animated world through Unity plugin on City of Steam website. Here is a quick look at the World Machine.




Edit:

A lot of updates for City of Steam recently, most important of which is the announcement for Closed Beta Dates! Starting November 16th, we will hold 5-day “seasons” of Beta testing, as follows:

Springtide (Nov. 16th to 20th)
Summercrest (Nov. 30th to Dec. 4th)
Autumnwane (Dec. 14th to 18th)
Winter Festival (Dec. 23 to 28th)

If you still can't believe it’s a 3D MMORPG that offers all the fun stuff you’d expect from a grade A MMO, but in a unique industrial age fantasy setting, all the while being playable straight from your browser. Well, have a look at a recent teaser trailer we made:

http://youtu.be/3qTQJUVvuu8

We’ve also set ourselves some goals to reach for Closed Beta, provided we get enough support from the gaming community. Check out the bonus content you could get in Closed Beta on our Steam-o-Meter (it even includes developer humiliations; we may regret our enthusiasm later…).

If you’d like to get extras for Beta and support game development at the same time, be sure to have a look at our Beta Collaborator Packs!

We may be small, but we’re very receptive to player feedback too, and strive to openly discuss the development process. Feel free to share your thoughts, and I’ll personally answer any questions you may have.

[Haldi]

Unity 3D, has been some time since i last heard of that ^^

So even thought its a *browser* MMO, its supposed to run Fullscreen via Unity, right ? I assume that after talking with Skip you're already working /or have a working Multimonitor modus ?

Looking forward to the alpha :)

[Skid]

Unity uses a plugin to allow games to be run for a browser, Unity basically makes DirectX games, but has a plugin that allows the games to be embedded and run in a browser. So strictly speaking its not a browser based game its a DirectX game.

[CoS_Ethan]

Unity 3D, has been some time since i last heard of that ^^

So even thought its a *browser* MMO, its supposed to run Fullscreen via Unity, right ? I assume that after talking with Skip you're already working /or have a working Multimonitor modus ?

Looking forward to the alpha :)

We do currently have fullscreen, yes. However, there is an issue when using fullscreen with Multimonitor ight now with Unity. Hopefully, Unity will have that sorted out soon! Feel free to drop me a line if you have any other questions.

[CoS_Ethan]

Unity uses a plugin to allow games to be run for a browser, Unity basically makes DirectX games, but has a plugin that allows the games to be embedded and run in a browser. So strictly speaking its not a browser based game its a DirectX game.

Our emphasis is on browser-based because everything we've created has had the browser in mind: It is Lightweight and fast to jump into and has settings for lower spec configurations. The assets are streamed and are tiny but look great. Nowadays you can play some casual flash games that are bigger than City of Steam. We have spent a long time making sure no one is going to wait for that annoying loading bar to finish. The initial 'download' is only 2mb. Yeah.. really tiny. A huge enormous scene like this one:



It is only 2.3 mb. Think about it.. that high rez screenshot is actually bigger than the scene itself. That's pretty funny :P
A dungeon tileset is around 700kb and each additional level you explore can amount to a small 100kb package. All this and we pack in immersive graphics and sound.

While many proprietary plugins have been created to allow full-on client-based games to be played in a browser, we agree with you. This isn't truly 'browser-based' this is porting and hidding the true nature of the game but in essence it still amounts to the several gigs of the original client but you re-download it over and over again.

What I'm trying to say, maybe it got a bit too marketing pitch-y and I rambled... (apologies... need more coffee!) is that it is a browser-based game and was intentionally designed as one unlike many out there. It needs the unity webplayer plugin but some browsers already have that built-in so nearly zero barrier of entry right there.

If you want to know anything more, I'm here to answer and look forward to hearing what people think.

[Skid]

I think you took my comment a little to much to heart :P I wasn't having a go at you, my view is that a the type of game it is is dependent on the system used to make it, not where the end product is played. As such browser based games are any games coded in a language designed for browsers, CGI, PHP, Javascript, HTML5 etc. Think of it this way, games made in flash, have been and always will be, flash games, despite the fact they are most often played in a browser, likewise Unity is a DirectX engine, that can be played in a browser, but it still a DirectX game. And infact saying its a DirectX game that can run in a browser is probably more impressive then just saying its a browser based game.

[CoS_Ethan]

I think you took my comment a little to much to heart :P I wasn't having a go at you, my view is that a the type of game it is is dependent on the system used to make it, not where the end product is played. As such browser based games are any games coded in a language designed for browsers, CGI, PHP, Javascript, HTML5 etc. Think of it this way, games made in flash, have been and always will be, flash games, despite the fact they are most often played in a browser, likewise Unity is a DirectX engine, that can be played in a browser, but it still a DirectX game. And infact saying its a DirectX game that can run in a browser is probably more impressive then just saying its a browser based game.

Ah, I just re-read my post and it sounded angrier than I actually was...oops. Mainly went on a bit of a rant... need more sleep!

Completely agree with you, just 'DirectX', while installed by the masses, isn't something that everyone immediately understands. That's why the general idea we're trying to get people to rally behind is that it is 'browser-based' . In a perfect and intelligent world we could just say that... :p

[CoS_Ethan]

We just posted an announcement for details of the upcoming City of Steam alpha test, look into playable races on three weekends and be ready to select your roles. Also, we are excited to introduce Collaborator Pack to all, if you'd like to support the development of City of Steam but don't know how, then now's your chance.

[CoS_Ethan]

We had an amazing alpha weekend one. Now we are pretty close to the second one kicking off this Friday, more content will be accessible this time, including two new races, Draug and Riven. We will release a list of fixed-bugs and new features as well. Thanks again for joining the alpha and we'll look forward to meeting you again on 27th. :)

[CoS_Ethan]

We just got done with the third round of Alpha testing and it turned out to be another great weekend for us! Now we are heading for the fourth (also the last) Alpha Weekend starting on August 17th, featuring even more content and all 9 playable races. If interested, do remember to sign up for our newsletter for alpha key priority and choose your preferred races on 17th.

[Haldi]

when will you start "beta" or longer Aplhas ? missed the last 4 Week ends ^^

[CoS_Ethan]

when will you start "beta" or longer Aplhas ? missed the last 4 Week ends ^^

The last Alpha Weekend will start on 17th, looking forward to meeting you this weekend!

[CoS_Ethan]

We've got a new Dev Journal up! Coding just released their to-do list for Beta (including some pretty awesome stuff); if interested, be sure to have a look! Oh, and stick around, there are more development updates just around the corner.

[CoS_Ethan]

Regrettably but gratefully, we decided (deliberation) that it’s time to bid a farewell to the limited Alpha Collaborator Packs; they will officially come to a close on September 23rd. Yes, you can still help us out afterwards through the merchandise store, Paypal donation, etc. But to those that want some exclusive supporter swag at the same time, be sure to seize your opportunity before that date arrives!

[CoS_Ethan]

We just put up some new dev journals, here's your chance to get a closer look at some cool Ratling animations in Unity, backstories of the charming but manipulative Rivens and a wrapup for all available classes in City of Steam now.

[CoS_Ethan]

Last chance for supporting City of Steam guys! The closing date of all Alpha Supporter Packs is pretty close now; to those who've been keeping track of City of Steam, don't miss the chance of being an honorable supporter for this game while receiving some amazing CoS swag at the same time!

[CoS_Ethan]

Check out a funny little video we made while stressed-out over getting City of Steam Beta ready. Feel free to leave us a comment, too! As always, keep an eye on our Dev Journals for latest development progress we've made, and share your thoughts. Beta should be rearing its head out sometime in November.

[CoS_Ethan]

Hello everyone, we have plenty of great news share recently, so forgive me if this seems a bit spammy (but yeah...how else to spread the news on stuff like this..?)

First! Closed Beta Test will start on Nov. 16th (see more details via the announcement here), coupled with more content and contests;

Second! We just got a new Beta Teaser Trailer up, so please share the video with your friends and help spread the word out;

Third! We now have brand new Beta Collaborator Packs, if you missed the Alpha packs, this is your chance to get a bunch of awesome extras for Beta!

Lastly! As we also have some goals to reach in Closed Beta, we do need your support to make them achievable. Check out the bonus content you could get in CBT on your Steam-o-Meter (it even includes developer humiliations; we may regret our enthusiasm later…).

Ok, enough of that before this gets too long, sorry for dropping so much on your guys at once… I’m glad to hear your comments on this though, so be sure to let me know what you think, or ask those questions I’m sure are crossing your mind!