Sovereign Preview

MUD (multi user dungeons) games have first set the world on fire simulating a human society resembling the real world. The accompanying story and the possibility of achieving in the virtual world what you failed in the real one made this even more popular. The only thing that kept this away from broad consumer masses was the text-only interface. Then, EverQuest appeared and redirected the whole genre. The pictures spoke louder than the words used up till then and the virtual world became more tangible and realistic.

Look at this lovely globe...

Lone submarine...

Verant Interactive is a pioneer in building MMORPGs and it decided to use the same concept on real-time strategies. Still, to make the game function for five to six weeks and be played by about five hundred players, the authors had to undertake some concept changes. The developers point out that Sovereign won't be a pure RTS, it would rather be a mixture of Civilization 2, Diplomacy and Command & Conquer games. The cities being centers (in stead of bases in common RTSs) of research and production would function most similar to cities in Sid Meier masterpiece, The necessity for negotiation and diplomacy will be the same as it is in the famous pen & paper game and the combat itself will resemble a standard RTS. This very idea sounds good enough to make strategists drool, and if we add the feeling of fighting hundreds of human opponents and the programmers' promise of using all the potentials of modern 3D graphics accelerators, we can only bite our nails until the game appears.

To sweeten the suspense, I'll just present some facts I found on the net and received from the publishers. The engine was specially created for this game. It will enable camera movement in all three dimensions and you will be able to zoom smoothly from the rotating planet to the level where you can see the expression on soldiers' faces. All units will be 3D objects, and the planet will resemble our planet.

You start the game by choosing the profession of your president (leader, dictator or whatever you want to call him). Your nation's strategy will depend on weather you chose a soldier, spy, scientist, economist, diplomat or theologist. This rather unusual element for a RTS was introduced in order to make the game interesting even after you played several dozen games. The very idea that each profession has it upsides and downsides makes alliances between different nations necessary. A spy can provide necessary information to a scientist in exchange for advanced weapon designs, and the soldier can command his forces and provide services for a grateful, money-loaded economist.

The size of the battlefield will be determined depending on the number of players. The game supports anything from four to 500 players. 250 players will get a playground the size of earth, and 500 players will get a world twice as big.

As each empire evolved from a small village, you probably won't be able to brag about the size of your domain as soon as the game commences. The cities will be placed randomly about the map and the rest will depend on you. Great cities will rise on locations abundant with resources, which will determine city economy and growth. There will be no microeconomics, so you won't have to bother about things like how many men water the flowers or feed the chicken. All trade will take place on an international stock exchange. This system is another reason for the development of player communication and diplomacy.

Galaxy fighter support

This deserted island is gonna get nuked soon...

The cities grow when you build civilian (factories, research centers) and military (airports and barracks) centers. The size of the city will determine the population and the population will determine the possibility of colonization and efficiency in new unit production.

In order to be able to play Sovereign without having to read thick manuals with characteristics of futuristic vehicles and robots, the game mostly uses already existent units, and some which are likely to exist in near future. Hence, you'll be put in command of infantry, tanks, stealth bombers, fighters, carriers, battleships and submarines... All in all there will be 70-75 units at your disposal. Apart from the military, there will also be some civilian vehicles. Trucks and cargo ships and planes will be used for trade, but you will often have to defend them with some military units. The authors strive for certain verisimilitude in presenting realistic units (five soldiers won't be able to shoot a jet down, but only the richest states will be able to afford such subtle weapons). The game will also feature spy and defense satellites, choppers, AWACs, ballistic missiles, nuclear and chemical weaponry. The veteran troops will always be more efficient than newbies and you will be able to control them more efficiently using formations.

Both terrain and weather conditions will influence the movement of military hardware. Only smaller units will be able to pass through swamps, and snow will make motorized vehicles slower. As there will be changes of day and night, you'll have to choose the time of day you find most becoming for a fight.

Apart from military expansion, you'll have to use a lot of espionage and diplomacy. When 499 other players could be plotting against you, it's time to make a stand and plot against them. Creating Spy-nets will enable you to listen to other-players' phone-calls monitor development and even sabotage your enemies. Still, espionage is very expensive, and counter-espionage and encoding chat-lines can easily protect you from eager eyes. If you catch an enemy spy, you can kill him, make him work for you or torture him. If you succeed in torturing him and find out who spied on you, you can make him pass on false information. Altogether this is a simplified but still interesting information-war simulation.