The Repopulation

[Morreion]

Pre-alpha trailers:





The Repopulation official site

Game Overview

The Repopulation is a Science Fiction Massive Multiplayer Online Role Player Game by Above and Beyond Technologies. You begin your adventure as a second generation clone colonist on the planet of Rhyldan, with mankind on the verge of extinction, and in the midst of a civil war.

We've taken a fresh look at every feature of the Massive Multiplayer genre, with an eye on revolution, rather than evolution. The end result is a unique feature set aimed towards old school fans and new players alike.

Feature Overview

* Hybrid approach which blends Sandbox and Theme Park mechanics.
* Unique three Faction PvP (Player vs. Player) system which allows players to join one of the two major Nations (OWON or FPR), or form their own independent Rogue Nation. Rogue Nations are similar to Guilds in other games, except they also act as their own independent faction in PvP.
* City building system allows Nations to form their own cities complete with Walls, Turrets, Harveters, Workshops, Houses, and other forms of structures geared towards benefiting the owning character, or the City as a whole. Cities can even be besieged by opposing Nations.
* Skills based gameplay featuring over 100 skills, and 15 tiers of advancement within each skill. This includes Combat, Social, Rogue, Crafting, Medical and General skills trees.
* Engagement system which provides randomly occuring events throughout the world. These events can evolve, spread and mutate based on how players respond to them. Visting the same location three times could provide you with three very different environments if players have allowed alien species or catastrophies alter an area. Engagements are both common and random, and all players who participate will be eligible for automatic rewards.
* Advanced generated mission (quest) system ensures that players always have something to keep them occupied. Unlike generated quest systems of the past, our generated quests can be epic in scale.
* Easily toggle between one of our two combat modes. Tired of 1,2,3,4 key mashing combat? Try our Action Mode combat which allows you to aim and shoot your way to victory. Or stick to RPG Mode combat, with a traditional MMORPG feel.
* Numerous new twists on combat traditional MMO combat. Openings system allows players to take advantage of create openings for their allies and encourages teamwork. Momentum system allows you to take advantage of gained Momentum to use powerful abilities. Hide behind cover, croutch or lie prone. Gain experience against a particular species to gain edges over them in combat.
* Players are not forced into combat. There are many non-combat related activities and ways to advance them independently of it. This includes an advanced crafting system which allows the creation of many advanced items.
* Vehicle system featuring upgrades, vehicle to vehicle combat, and siege vehicles, in addition to the usual fast transport.
* Customize your equipment with a fitting system that tailors items to your style.
* Expect more from your pets. Tame animals and have them grow in power over time. Construct or purchase robots to perform a variety of tasks. Hire NPCs or take advantage of Genetically Engineered beings. Even control multiple pets at a single time.
* Be rewarded for your travel through the exploration system.
* Tired of farming the same Group or Raid bosses using the same old strategies? The Repopulation features a generated ability system for our boss mobs. This system allows bosses to a select number of abilities appropriate to their difficulty tier and species. This forces groups or raids to adjust their tactics on the fly.
* Have an affect on the world. NPCs will spread word of your deeds to other players, or curse your name if you have treated them wrongly. Respond quickly to threats in an area and you can prevent them from becoming larger scale problems. Fail to do so and an area could fall under enemy hands.

New Hero Engine sandbox to feature 3-faction PvP, deep crafting (Massively)

The project is built on the Hero Engine (and if that doesn't mean anything to you, you'll surely recognize the tech's most famous implementation to date) and is described as a three-faction PvP game that allows players to join existing nations or create their own. Gameplay is purportedly skill-based, and there is a toggle between traditional MMORPG button-mashing combat and some sort of action mode. There are also "many non-combat activities" including an "advanced" crafting system.

The Repopulation Announced; Features Leveling Without Grinding (Gaming Blend)

Designed by an indie studio called Above and Beyond Technologies, the upcoming The Repopulation is running on the HeroEngine and puts players in a science-fiction setting as a cloned colonists trying to end a civil war while surviving on the planet Rhyldan.

The Repopulation adds action mode combat toggle, military system (Massively)

...The other big addition is The Repopulation's military system. In a nutshell, it's a ranking system that allows players to gain military XP while performing various duties for their nation's armed forces. Ranks, medals, and perks like armor, weapons, vehicles, robotics, and special abilities are among the system's rewards.

[Morreion]

The Repopulation gets a graphical upgrade (Massively)

...The Repopulation is a three-faction sci-fi sandbox with toggle-enabled action combat and a substantial crafting system. The game is scheduled to begin beta testing in 2012.

The Repopulation devs talk stealth, skill lists (Massively)

"We don't have the exact disguise system in place yet so I cannot really speculate on it beyond the fact it will be for hiding in plain sight (instead of out of sight with stealth). A spy class is a good idea on what that might work like. The whole idea is to impersonate a certain faction or sub-faction so you won't get attacked," the Xerves says.

GDC 2012: The Repopulation demonstrates world-building elements (Massively)

Some structures that can be placed in cities are barriers, turrets, work camps, harvesters, and buildings that can be entered as well as decorations. Work camps will actually deploy units to harvest local resources, and the harvesters actually generate a resource, albeit on a slower and smaller scale than personal harvesting. Turrets can actually be set to fire on sight at players depending on allegiance, which can be set at five different levels from nemesis to ally. (Factions are truly a whole other article, but suffice it to say that there are two main factions and a rogue faction; nations align themselves to one and enjoy the benefits and suffer the consequences of each choice. Individual nations can also be personally tagged by another nation as any of the five levels of camaraderie.) Of course, there will be many more structures, all with their own special benefits.

Another +1 in the sandbox tally sheet: Unique housing separate from the nation building is in the works to give players a place to decorate. These personal abodes will be completely safe from destruction and might have more advanced decorating tools. The housing will be instanced, but the plan is to have a seamless kind of transition (meaning no loading screen) to move from a city into the housing.

The Repopulation populates pre-alpha (Massively)

...And to top it off, the post announces that the studio "will be opening Alpha testing in June.

The Repopulation First Look: City Builder Meets MMO (Ten Ton Hammer)

Both mayors and rulers will have to deal with pressure from their computer-controlled citizenry (i.e. unhappiness), from power struggles between mayors, and from military incursion from other nations, cities, and alien factions. Mayors and rulers can also set up five different levels of alliances with other cities and nations, as well as set up demilitarized trade zones where goods can be bought and sold.

In their role as mayor, player’s primary duties include positioning buildings and defensive structures and setting policies to help their city survive and thrive. Cities can be conquered, but even when players aren’t online, turrets, defensive structures, and your own populations will rise to protect what’s yours.

[Morreion]

Is The Repopulation the next SWG?







Some Assembly Required: Can Darkfall and The Repopulation end the sandbox drought? (Massively)

This latest clip delved deep into The Repopulation's city-building system. It also shined the spotlight on object placement, interior and exterior decorating, and cooperative structure placement as it relates to the title's nation-state mechanics. Along the way, we got to see the UI in action as well as a brief bit on the game's alliance management options (around 8:20 in the clip).

Finally, Above & Beyond gave us a lengthy state-of-the-game update in late March that detailed all of the new content going into the alpha. Highlights here included the new tracking and repair systems as well as grouping improvements. While all of this stuff is pretty exciting, the videos (in particularly the city-building clip) really raised our eyebrows. Not since Star Wars Galaxies have we seen a game so focused on non-combat feature sets; if you're not already signed up for The Repopulation's alpha, there's no time like the present.

The Repopulation's end-of-April update includes genetic engineering, bug fixes, and lore updates (Massively)

...players with the Genetic Engineering skill can do some gene-splicing to create their own unique pets. Currently there are 40 different hybrid and pure-species pets that can be genetically engineered, so the mad scientists in the crowd should have many options when it comes to playing God.

The Repopulation lets players customize outfits to their hearts' content (Massively)

The long and the short of The Repopulation's gear system is that players will be able to pick the outfit (or "shells") that they like the best visually and then equip the stats they want on it. This is done through fittings, which is similar to socket systems found in other MMOs.

As outfits take damage, the conditions of the fittings can and do degrade, reducing the stats associated with it. If it gets too bad, the fittings will either need to be repaired or replaced.

The Repopulation seeks Kickstarter funding (Massively)

Sandbox fans are probably feeling the pinch on their wallets of late with the surge of Kickstarter projects. The Repopulation is joining the trend with a project that's just kicked off to secure funding for further development. That means incentive rewards, stretch goals, and of course, new information about the game as it moves through development. The funding goal is set at a fairly modest $25,000 and includes several noteworthy incentives for backers.

Alpha begins for The Repopulation, first day captured on video (Massively)

What activities do sandbox-hungry players do once they get in? Quite a few dive into structure building, while others light up their screens with firefights as they test combat out on various creatures. At least one decides to take a load off and relax by taking advantage of the ability to sit in chairs.

The Repopulation goes in-depth on PvE mechanics (Massively)

As a true sandbox, The Repopulation allows you to have several options. Missions are explained as similar to traditional MMO quests, but they're not necessary to the game. In fact, these missions are tailor-made for your character based on your skill level, faction, previously completed missions, personality traits, and more. The article also gives us extensive details on engagements, generated epic missions, rewards, exploration, branching dialogue options, and way more than you'd expect to hear on a game this early in development.

The Repopulation's monthly update details multiplayer vehicles (Massively)

Vehicles can carry multiple players including a driver, gunners, and passengers. You'll be able to upgrade and customize your vehicles with regard to things like speed, steering, shields, armor, and weapons.

The Repopulation adds entertainer skills, PvP tweaks (Massively)

Did you hear that? It was the sound of cheering, as thousands of Star Wars Galaxies fans rejoiced at the news that another MMORPG is finally riffing on its one-of-a-kind Entertainer profession. The MMO in question is The Repopulation, a sci-fi sandbox that just released its end-of-the-month update.

Chief among the interesting additions for November was the Entertainment skill line, which grants players the ability to be the life of the party via music, storytelling, dancing, crowd motivation, "and other means."

The system grants long-term buffs to entertained players provided that said entertaining happens in social/resting areas (think pubs, inns, theaters, etc.). Players may also make temporary wilderness camps that act as social areas.

[Morreion]

The Repopulation beta coming this spring, launch near 'the end of the year' (Massively)

The Repopulation's official release is "tentatively scheduled for the end of the year," according to today's lengthy 2013 preview post.

Crafting Attribute System (official site)

One of our goals is to create a fairly complex crafting system. Our economy and ecosystem are designed around the idea that there will be no moderate to high end fitting drops, facilitating a fully player driven world. We feel this will provide a diverse crafting experience, offering both a quick learning process and the complexity of refinement and producing sought after end products along with a high level of customization that will satisfy players of all backgrounds.

Crafting Interdependence (official site)

This gives all crafters a specific role to fill since, although crafting an end product like fittings might be a lucrative business, crafting the subcomponents required to make those end products can be equally lucrative. The interdependence of the crafting skills ensures that each skill can be a great source of income. We also have crafting options available for the gatherers in the system as most of the “raw” collected resources will need to be refined before they can be used by crafters. In the case of fittings, this is a very important step of the process as the refined materials determine the available attributes for the fitting to utilize.

Player Housing System (official site)

The Repopulation will offer 3 housing options for players to choose from: instanced housing, persistent world housing, and player city housing. Instanced plots will be available for the OWON and FPR factions along with an option for players who are not aligned with either. The factions will not share instanced housing neighborhoods. Each instance will have small to large plots available for players to place homes. These instances will create small neighborhood communities within the instance.

The Repopulation adds seven new creatures to its bestiary (Massively)

Other creatures include the brachura with their massive spiked claws, the cliff-scaling okolat, the annoying little birdlike t'seef, and the aptly named scavenger. But animal wildlife is not all players will encounter when venturing out of the safety of civilization: The sentient lesoo are not only intelligent, but are stronger and larger than the humans.

End of February 2013 Update (official site)

We continued what we began last month with a number of new stealth improvements including variable translucency for other players, giving some pets the ability to stealth, and a new counter tactics to aid in detecting stealthed players. But we didn't stop there. You'll also find significant updates to many existing features, a new Nation Reputation system, two new epic mission series, improved NPC interactions, audio improvements, optimizations and interface improvements.

PAX East 2013: Hands-on with The Repopulation (Massively)

Another intriguing skill on display was animal handling. Players can tame animals in the wild and then feed and care for them as they grow stronger and aid their masters. There are actually three ways to get pets, and the first is by using your skills to find and tame baby creatures in the wild. You do have to feed them and keep them healthy or they regress, but over time, they'll grow stronger and become powerful aids. The second way is to build robotic pets through crafting. They do require some upkeep, and they can break down, but players can trade or sell these to other players. The last way is through genetic engineering, and if players get the necessary DNA, blood, and hides from corpses they've killed, they can essentially build a new creature a la Dr. Frankenstein.

[Regolyth]

Is it just me, or are some indy/independent/small-time game developers trying to bring back sandbox-style games? Not that I don't like it, it just seems to be the current trend.

[Morreion]

Oh yeah, you're right! I couldn't believe it when I saw it, but there are at least 6 sandboxes in development right now. There's hope for MMOs yet!

[Regolyth]

As long as some giant publisher doesn't gobble them up and destroy their potential. And as long as the current MMOer doesn't shun the old-style of play.

[Morreion]

Agreed on the big publisher thing. I'd rather settle for a decent indie game. And if it's a niche game, I'm OK with that. There's a lot of players that I wouldn't mind not seeing in a new game

[Regolyth]

Good point. Niche games are not a bad thing, as some of the industry seems to think. Sometimes you want to design a game that has specific attributes. It doesn't always have to appeal to everyone.

[Morreion]

Dev: "What we have going on is kind of a mixture of Star Wars Galaxies and Shadowbane..."







The Repopulation adds gore, stampedes, turrets, and more (Massively)

The new update takes a high-level view of development and it states that since the majority of The Repopulation's features are complete, the dev team is now focusing on content creation and an enjoyable new player experience.

Highlights from April's patch cycle include the new harvester system, player turrets, AI tweaks, stampedes, and gore options.

Cutting to the heart of extraction in The Repopulation (Massively)

Since the game doesn't feature levels, there's a more organic system to gathering these resources. Players first decide how difficult the extraction should be, with higher difficulties resulting in higher-grade resources. More difficult extractions take longer, however, and as a result, players have a higher chance to fail unless they've practiced harvesting a particular species.

The Repopulation's June recap talks revamped tutorial (Massively)

The devs also improved some of The Repopulation's cinematic camera options and added ability-based goals for missions as well as a command alias system.

PvP Overview (The Repopulation)

Players begin the game as Reserve members of the military, which means that they may not attack or be attacked in Protected regions. Each of the two main factions has roughly a third of the world marked as owned and protected by their faction. Reserve military members may not attack or be attacked by rival factions while in these protected regions. There is a full complement of tiers in these protected regions, so players who wish to avoid PvP entirely, may do so on Normal servers.

You may switch to Active military at any time, but if you do so you will be unable to switch back to Reserve for a period of time. Active Military members can attack or be attacked by other Active Military members of hostile nations. Once you step outside of the protected regions and into the contested regions you are under the same rules of active military. Enemies of your faction or nation are able to attack you at will.

They're going to have a hardcore ruleset server too.

Siege Overview (The Repopulation)

Sieging is a complex and important mechanic in The Repopulation. Games that allow players to attack and potentially take cities from one another are rare, but we believe that this risk, coupled with the rewards that come with a city, will enhance the sandbox gameplay experience by establishing the importance of a nation's reputation. Those who wish to do business in peace will work to form solid alliances with other nations, and will avoid garnering a negative reputation with the hopes of avoiding sieges as well. Consequences are an important aspect of player cities, but solid siege mechanics that prevent cities from turning into worthless war camps, yet provide a fun PvP experience are crucial. We want to see cities turn into majestic hubs that both PvE and PvP focused players will enjoy. This consideration was foremost in our minds as we designed the mechanics for sieging in The Repopulation.

The Repopulation adds vehicles, NPC inquiry system (Massively)

Chief among the upgrades were inquiries, which allow players to query most of the game's NPCs, and vehicles, which now include hover-speeders, hover-cycles, and a mech.

Yep, you can have a beer belly in The Repopulation (Massively)

If the clip is any indication, The Repopulation has a healthy amount of sliders, face morphing, and other assorted options to ensure that your avatar isn't a carbon copy of someone else's avatar. The game also eschews the mandatory physical perfection that's usually on display in modern MMOs. In other words, yes, you can have a beer belly and/or a vertically challenged character!

The Repopulation introduces new event systems in its August updates (Massively)

One of the major design goals of The Repopulation is a sense of a world in motion, shaped by players but also influencing player actions. August's updates to the game included the implementation of the Area and World Event systems, facilitating just that sort of gameplay. According to the most recent development blog, these systems track what's going on in the world, direct players to unexpected happenings, and then start to chain new events based off of those metrics. There are also NPCs in place to direct players toward hotbeds of activity.

The game's other mechanics have also received further tuning. Cities can now benefit from new happiness-increasing structures and more flexible placement options...

PAX Prime 2013: The Repopulation hunkers down for a siege (Massively)

If EverQuest Next is the big dog of the upcoming sandbox MMO set, then The Repopulation is on the other end of the spectrum. The title is still in alpha testing with only a few hundred players participating, the team is spread across the globe, and the studio is looking for a publisher to help give the title the financial backing it sorely needs. Even so, the folks at Above and Beyond Technologies have an obvious passion for the project and were plainly eager to talk about it at PAX Prime.

...During the eight seconds when I first logged into the siege complex and was shot up by a sprinting opponent, I had a few initial thoughts as someone who hadn't seen a lot of The Repopulation thus far. First, it's pretty easy on the eyes: The character models are well-done and the environment looks quite attractive. I was less enthusiastic about the sterile military/pre-fab structure visuals, however. Second, it doesn't feel as science-fictiony as Counterstrikey. Third, there's a ton of menu options that would require some serious studying to master. The latter is a little difficult when you're on the run from a bullet with your name on it.