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Miner Wars Q&A #2


DarkOne
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Keen Software House has granted SpaceSimCentral another Q&A with the developers of this great single player/MMO. This Q&A is more of an extension to the original that was done with Marek Rosa (located here: http://spacesimcentral.com/ssc/topic/448-miner-wars-qa-with-marek-rosa/ ). Since the last Q&A the Miner Wars team has grown from one to many and you can see the progress in the game itself and in the community around it.

Miner Wars is a unique game in that it is going to offer two different experiences to the gamer. In one hand you will be able to play a single player game with a story that is focused on the game universe and the player. And in the other hand you have the option to play in the MMO portion of Miner Wars with thousands of other players and create factions and bases. If you haven't visited the Miner Wars website yet you can do so here: http://www.minerwars.com . There is a wealth of information on the game in its FAQ and in the forums.

Below is some questions and answers about various aspects of the game. All questions were pulled from the community of gamers and are a bit more focused. I still have a few questions left for another Q&A if the developers are willing. So enjoy the Q&A and I have also posted some new screenshots (this is why the posting was delayed) from the latest closed beta client for people to enjoy.

It has been talked about that the Miner Wars universe is going to be a decent size with maybe thousands of sectors. Right now you can either use your base ship to move to different sectors or fly through them yourself. Is there a limitation on the distance you can travel because of fuel or oxygen? And if so what is the average distance a player can go before they have to replenish fuel or oxygen?

Yes, it’s possible to travel from sector to sector by your ship. Fuel and oxygen will last for about 4 sectors, that’s between 30-60 minutes of game-play. Although it depends on player’s ship, engines, extra fuel tank, etc. And you can also replenish your oxygen reserves meanwhile so basically you can keep on going till you fall asleep.

How advanced will the mining operations be in game? Can you only haul ore with your ship or can you contract larger ships to haul your ore back to base? Or hire mercenaries to be your wingmen to help protect you or the cargo ship?

We want the game to have depth so you’ll be able to do pretty much everything you mentioned.

How many pilotable ships will there be in Miner Wars and are there any plans to have players control larger capital ships or bases?

In the first release we will have 10 pilotable ships and add many more in the future. Player controlled capital ship and bases are planned for the next MW release, something like ’Minerwars 1.3’, and maybe even some modular ships might make their way in that release, who knows 😉

In PvP combat, can different ship systems be targeted for damage or does your ship take damage as whole? And how will ships show damage on screen in game?

We are planning different ship systems for targeting. E.g. when you target the player’s cockpit you could kill the player without doing major damage to the ship which can then be looted. You could also make him run out of oxygen doing the similar thing.

Can you describe how a player unlocks new ship equipment, weapons and ammo?

Simple answer‚ by buying them on space stations or motherships if he can afford the price tag.

In Miner Wars do you have to take into account the weight of items like installed equipment, weapons, ammo, fuel and cargo? Will weight slow down the overall speed of your ship or make it less maneuverable?

Yes. Every ship and all the equipment will make an impact on your ship maneuverability. So if, for example, you attack a player and loot all his belongings, on your way back to the mothership/space station, your ship with the cargohold filed will be far less agile than normal, so you yourself will be in turn a valid and most likely easy target for other players on the hunt.

Will there be different Heads Up Displays (HUD) depending on the class of ship you have? And what type of information will be displayed on the HUD for the user?

HUD will be the same but the cockpit will be different. Some parts of the HUD will change depending on what equipment is installed. We haven’t fully decided yet on what information will be displayed on the HUD and most likely we’ll make this decision based on suggestions from our community cause they know the best what they like and dislike.

There has been talk of an achievement system that will be built into the game, and that Miner Wars will also be integrated with your user account on the Miner Wars website. Can you give some examples of some achievements and if there are any rewards for attaining them? And can you explain what we can expect from game to website interaction.

The achievements system is still being discussed so we cannot give any relevant information about it at this time.
Interaction between website and Miner Wars game has these bases:

  • Ordering / shopping
  • Forum / real-time chat
  • Achievements you see game achievements also in user’s profile on the website
  • User profiles

Will Miner Wars support joystick/gamepads and TrackIR?

Joysticks YES. TrackIR - no current plans but we were seriously discussing the issue.

We know that Miner Wars is going to have a single player element and a MMO element. Are these connected in any way? Meaning could you bring your ship you have been working on in single player mode into the MMO game and have everything you attained in single player?

Yes you can bring your ship from MMO to single player and vice-versa. You can also invite your friends to join you in a single player game, something like cooperative play.

Can you talk about the AI in Miner Wars and how we will see it used in NPC's and factions in the game? Will NPC's or faction members call for help or run when in trouble? Will Miner Wars look busy with npc's going about their business? Will you get offered missions via communications from a NPC?

Every NPC has its own business on his mind. He will offer a mission to you if that’s what he needs right now. In fact NPC and real players are very similar, the only difference is that one is artificial. What we mean by that is that NPC characters could take on missions just like you would, they also mine and they could also approach you and ask to join your “fleet"‚ as wingmen, etc.

There has been mention of Miner Wars being able to run in VMWare, is this true? Do you have any comments on the playability and frame rate running it on a VM yet?

Perfectly playable in VMWare with a steady frame rate.

Keen Software has really embraced their community and has given out positions on the development team and putting user ideas and models into the game. How has the community feedback and support impacted Miner Wars development? And do you have any idea on how many models or ideas from the community will actually be implemented into the final product?

The community support is something we value greatly and we don’t say that just as a marketing tool. There is a rule in our company that all of our current and future devs must read the forum and communicate with the people there. We are confident that at least 40 percent of the whole game will be done by the community (everything included). If the ideas, music and models from the community are good, we will use them, simple as that.

Space is a dark and cold place, and from watching the early videos of Miner Wars in action it is really playing into the whole blackness of space to set the mood. What type of mood are you trying to set in Miner Wars and how is the background music coming?

That is exactly the kind of feel we want for our game. Space is a cold and dark place. No need for fancy rainbow-like sectors. Background music will be influenced by the sounds of space recorded by NASA on their space missions.

Last question. What does Miner Wars hold for the people that like to explore? Will players be able to find derelict ships, anomalies, lost artifacts, hidden faction bases or black market dealers?

Well you have pretty much said it all 🙂 . MW is a handcrafted universe with a lot of easter eggs to find. We want the people to explore the game and have fun and be surprised by what they find. Exploring is not fun without rewards isn’t it? 😉 Also more such content will be added with each new update that we release so that players will always have something new to look for.

Feel free to leave feedback on the Q&A here. The developers do read this forum and they will respond to your inquiries. Remember more people are going to be allowed access to beta client very soon to help give feedback and find any bugs for the Miner Wars team.


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Chebar
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Good job putting this together Darkone. I will say it was much easier to read on your site. The screenshots are really cool. Hopefully soon I'll be putting up screenshots of my stuff in-game.


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DarkOne
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Has your model been accepted yet? If so can't wait to see it in there and textured up 🙂

Like in the last question of the Q&A about exploration. Would be great to find that hanger of yours drifting in space in a remote sector and then watch it come alive and hostile ships start pouring out of it 😮

One of the best answers that I liked out of the whole Q&A is the your user can play SP or MMO with no loss of anything and come and go as you please back and forth between the different game styles with the same character. So that is great stuff there.


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Maddog
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Hmm , didn't know they reached Beta so fast, anyway those screens looks awesome.

Lighting is much better now, as previous videos were too dark for my taste.

I'm looking forward to MW more than BP, and I would like so much, to mess around with space assets in that engine 😀 .


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DarkOne
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Maddog wrote:
Hmm , didn't know they reached Beta so fast, anyway those screens looks awesome.

I guess you could say its a limited featured close beta. Not all of the game functionality is there yet, but you can test flight mechanics and the destruction aspects of the game. The client is updated every few days or so with some new features to test.

Maddog wrote:
Lighting is much better now, as previous videos were too dark for my taste.

Personally for me I liked the darker environments its sets the mood of space better for me. Depending on the starlight and sun light the effects are nice. The lights on the ship really don't come into play until you are fairly close to the object.


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DarkOne
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Was playing around with the latest build client and thought you might want to see a pic of the radar in action. I was flying through a tunnel I was making and all the radar contacts are debris from the blasting.


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