Beyond Protocol - MMORTS Space Game - Anyone know anything about it?
Friday, July 11th, 2008 - 11:15am
I just stumbled across this over on Kotaku where they apparently saw it at Origins. It's an on-line space strategy game called Beyond Protocol that looks interesting; something like an MMO version of Master of Orion or Sins of a Solar Empire. Unfortunately, I can't tell too much from their web site but it seems to be in beta at the moment.
Anyone know anything about this? I like the idea that my fleets or whatever will react and defend themselves even if I am not logged in; it might be interesting to play something like this that doesn't require constant monitoring. Any thoughts?
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This thread is probably better suited for the MMO forum, but...
I was reading through the FAQ. The game sounds like it could be very interesting. Keyword there being "could". I hold judgement until I actually see anything from them. However there is one part of the FAQ that kind of has me worried.
This sounds like it could open up a whole can of worms that the developers might not be ready for.
Chumpy wrote:
Malor wrote:
You are of course right. Fixed.
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The concept of the game sounds very cool, and I love the voting idea! A game where players can directly influence the rules sounds awesome.
Then I went to the website and looked at some of the screenshots and... wow. I don't usually like to judge a game solely on the merits of its graphics, but this looks just awful!
These are a couple shots from the album titled "Gold Ready Screenshots":
http://www.beyondprotocol.com/phpbb2/album_pic.php?pic_id=231
http://www.beyondprotocol.com/phpbb2/album_pic.php?pic_id=263
I feel bad for being so harsh, but honestly it looks about 10 years dated.
-- My Biking Team --
Wow, I didn't even look at the screenshots before. Those do look really bad. Like rip out my eyeballs and throw them in a vat of acid, bad.
Chumpy wrote:
Malor wrote:
That may be deliberate to counter lag. Look at that second image; how many ships do they have in that one combat? More detailed graphics may slow them down too much.
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I understand this sentiment, but do the graphics really need to be that bad to prevent bad frame rates in this day and age?
Chumpy wrote:
Malor wrote:
If the gameplay is astounding it will be easy to overlook the graphics. I think many publishers have been stuck in a rut when it comes to this anyway. They skimp on gamplay to make everything look pretty. It's also easier to let it slide because it's an indie publisher.
"Now witness the awesome lethality of the Alan Parsons Project!"
-Dr. Evil
I don't understand - those graphics look pretty good to me. Maybe I've been playing too many 10-year-old games.
Remember: this conversation is just between you and me ... and the NSA.
MaverickDago wrote:
Looks neat, and I'll play anything with spaceships in it. I signed up for the beta, so I'll let y'all know.
i'm actualy in this beta and i have to day lol, its alot of fun to say the least. At the moment me and a group of friends are fighting outhers accross systems building starbases everywhere lol.
an yeah your fleets will defend themselves while your offline aswell as your buildings
lol. there is nothing quite like watching someone come to attack a colany they think has no defences only to get blown to bits 
as for the graphics? as far as i have seen Beyond protocol is leading the field in MMORTS games lol. anyone take a look at mankind or ToD?
but yeah, i personaly think this games going to be big it has so many things going for it. the biggist been devs that will listen to ideas and your problems. the game already has a friendly comunity.
QFT. I'm playing EVE as my MMO of choice currently, and CCP hasn't pulled any punches on graphics because of large fleet battles. 300v300 in 0.0 space is a regular occurence, and while most systems will chug a little, along with the servers, it's not that bad if you're ready for it settings wise.
Wired has the truth of this one IMO; no real excuse for it to look like it does, indy publisher aside.
wordsmythe wrote:
Podunk on Jessica Alba wrote:
Graphics aside, the game play of this game is addictive to say the least and I rely suggest giving the game a go
at the moment things are starting to heat up wars are breaking out over claiming guild territory so there is a lot of fun to be had lol
Also, you don’t have to worry about been a new player since there are systems in place to make it easier for a new player to get started in the game.
If I’m honest I think it would be a shame if some of you missed out on this game because you thought the graphics were not to par.
(If you get into the game and want some help or tips just give me a whisper my in game name is Sokari)
Superb name for a site lol - ive followed sokari and this thread trawling for news for my site and had to join
Regarding Beyond Protocol -I wont repeat whats been said by Sokari bar that the latest patch has massively improved the graphics( as well as much more) - I will be posting screenshots soon, just having a chore dating some as the closed beta improves things. Graphics early in the beta were toned down a lot to allow the bug fixing to occur in less muddied waters. For this reason the player designed missiles were also turned off early on but have returned to blast the unwary.
This game is huge, possibly one of the largest out there for gameplay space - depends how launch goes. But I am impressed with the independant team behind this game, they are very focused on producing a genre definfing game. In my opinion technology has hindered MMORTS realising itself and capturing mass appeal. With the popularity of RTS and the dominance of MMO - maybe its time has come. We have Beyond Protocol, Saga, Dreamlordsand Navyfield all proving popular and many smaller games like Boundless Planet, Time of Defiance, Dawn of Fantasy are very active. Mankind is active again and there are numerous semi/quasi MMORTS out there like Battleforge, Worldshift, and Sins of a Solar Empire. All are proving popular - so give this one a go and see for yourself.