Matrix Online Creators Quizzed On MMO Wire-Fu

Thanks to GameSpy for its interview with the lead designer of The Matrix Online, featuring new details regarding the PC MMO which recently parted ways with original co-developer UbiSoft, meaning the newly rejuvenated Warner Bros. Interactive "...is now the sole publisher of the title." According to the article, the developers Monolith are utilizing a combat system called Interlock, where "...players have the opportunity to optimize their fighting technique by managing their move-by-move combat tactics, and performing combos and other special maneuvers. This is definitely not 'click and watch.'" There's more information at the official Matrix Online FAQ.

Comments

Bad timing

[Anonymous Coward]

This had the potential to really harness the mythos surrounding the movies with MMO's real-life / digital-life gameplay style, but with the current market saturation and soon-to-be-waning interest in this genre I don't think it will see a very warm reception, or at least as warm as it could be.

Too bad because having a truly digital alternate reality in the context of a game about a digital alternate reality is a pretty cool concept.

Fighting

[Killjoy_NL]

If they manage to get the fighting engine working well, they might set a precedent for 3D beat-em-ups.

From what I've read, the Bullet-Time option will kick in when you've landed the killing blow on your opponent, wasn't it much more cool if you could activate Bullet-Time during battle, like in Max Payne.
I guess it's really hard to do in an online game, who should be moving in bullet time, who should move in realtime, will spectators outside of the Bullet-Time area be viewing a really slow or really fast fight?

Difficult stuff.

Re:Fighting

[Mad_Fred]

The way I understood it bullet time won't just show up when you kill someone, that was just an example. I can imagine it kicking in when someone's executing various important/hard hitting moves, thus giving the opponent more time to react, I.E. make really cool counters or evasive moves. Since it's not a beat-em-up with a pad having a little more time to react probably won't hurt anyone. Just my ideas as spurred by the interview.

Re:Fighting

[Bazzargh]

Its not /that/ hard to do. Here's how: you can have two kinds of bullet time, 'slow' time, where other characters get slowed down, and 'fast' time, where your character is speeded up.

For 'slow' time, the effect is confined to a bubble, so you can have bullet time fights without affecting the whole world. As different characters are differently able to distort time, control speed and physics are changed by different amounts depending on your abilities; but all characters 'see' the bubble as if they were the fastest character (ie you see it the way the movie did).

To avoid discontinuities, intra-world communication (eg speech, phone) with someone in a different timeframe is disrupted, but inter-world communication is unaffected (eg a 'find me an exit' conversation). Constant rain and other effects can be used to constrain line-of-sight so there are no visual discontinuities.

'fast' time can be used for pre-planned actions, eg running along a route. Since you don't need real-time control, a fast character can then be moved at super-speed to their destination, and slow characters see an appropriate visual effect. Encountering a 'slow' bubble while moving along a 'fast' route drops you back into control.

I'm sure this leads to plenty of temporal anomalies, but unless you give they characters wristwatches they won't be annoyingly obvious.

Combat?

[oprahwinfree]

From the FAQ:

When does the game take place? [UPDATED]
The Matrix Online takes place after The Matrix Revolutions, the third Matrix movie. A truce has been declared. Humans and Machines are now at an uneasy peace. In the ongoing story of the game, you can play a significant part in the future of the Matrix.

Something I don't get is this:
If the machines and humans are at peace, then who will players fight against? Excluding pvp, I can't imagine that there will be very much combat. In a game like Everquest or Asheron's Call, minor enemies like trolls, orcs, and the like can be churned out over and over again to provide fighting fodder. In a Matrix world, where are the snakes and bats to fight?

Re:Combat?

[bigbigbison]

I'm not sure about snakes or bats, but remember the Merovingian (sp?) and that line that vampires, ghosts and werewolves are rogue programs. So I would imagine that would be a major part of who you would fight.

From the Faq

[Tommy2099]

"Imagine yourself as Trinity, downloading a new ability and instantly being able to use a new weapon"

Okay, I'll bite...

"Pistol, rifle, and submachine gun are available in the initial launch of Matrix Online. More weapons will probably be added in later game expansions."

So, I have to wait to probably download a way to pretend to download the ability to use a virtual representation of a virtual representation of more than just 3 standard game guns?

Existentialism aside, that blows. I need guns...lots of guns!

You have to see it for..oh screw it.

[superultra]

I watched a "trailer" for the game, and as expected it had the generic electronicaesque guitar rock in the background, cool camera angles with a green filter, shiny clothes and sunglasses that defy gravity, and then (gasp) . . . People. Running. Around. I know it's early, but the whole thing screamed BORING. The combat looked coerced and campy, like Enter the Matrix but turn based, if you can get crappier than ETM combat.

The only thing this has going for it is that it's produced by Monolith, of Shogo/NOLF/Tron fame. It's licensed (strike one), it's the Matrix (should be worth two strikes after ETM but we'll be fair give it one), and Ubisoft dropped it amidst an ever-crowding market of pointless MMOs. Strike three?

The only way I see this title being any fun at all is if Monolith somehow works in their crisp sense of humor. The machines are developing sheep bombs, say, or the game goes into bullet time whenever someone slips on a banana peel. I, for one, would very much like to see a man-cube perform martial arts while dodging bullets in slow motion.

Re:not real time fighting.

[*weasel]

The real test will be whether simply queuing up a dozen actions is an effective way to fight. If you are rewarded for altering your queue in response to your enemy's tactics, then it wouldn't necessarily be 'click and watch'.

(things like adjusting positioning or switching on/off defensive modes, using a 'counter' style to your opponents style, etc).

Queuing is a nice way to mitigate lag or declare intent (so your character isn't sitting there like an idiot during a lag spike), but shouldn't be the best tactic to use for an entire fight.

If you simply don't use the pause functionality in SW:Kotor, it's a decent example of having an action queue, yet being required to adjust it regularly for best results. (I'd personally want for more counters, reactive styles than KOTOR - but it's a decent example.)

If the effectiveness of a character's chooseable combat options are independent of enemy tactics, then surely the gameplay would still amount to 'click and watch', albeit front-loaded with more clicking.

But it ultimately depends on whether you're rewarded more for spamming your 'best' combos, or reacting with the 'appropriate' moves given the situation.

The designers still have an opportunity to avoid 'click and watch'. Whether they will or not is anyone's guess.