kartuga
Latest
InnoGames shutting down pirate-based browser game Kartuga
If you've loved the chance to have nautical pirate battles right in your browser courtesy of Kartuga, we've got sad news for you. InnoGames announced today that the the game has not managed to meet the company's standards for quality. The game also fails to meet the company's standard for cross-platform games, and with no way to bring it up to speed in an appropriate timeframe, the decision has been made to shut the game down in the very near future. Players with existing cash shop currency will be able to transfer that currency to another title run by InnoGames by August 14th. No exact date for the server shutdown has yet been established, but the official announcement specifies that the game will be available for a few more weeks. Our consolation goes out to all players and any development team members affected by this unexpected cancellation. [Source: InnoGames press release]
Free for All: The 10 best-looking browser-based MMORPGs
Beauty, they say, is in the eye of the beholder. Keep that in mind before you tell that me the games that fill out the following list of "best-looking browser-based MMORPGs" are ugly as sin. Sure, some of them are an acquired taste, but I wanted to display just how much variety there is now in browser gaming. It's not the delivery system it once was; we have had fancier-looking Flash-based titles for a while, but now with engines like Unity or Silverlight and even HTML5 coding, we have games that look no different from their client-based counterparts. There are still some ugly-as-sin games out there as well, but they have endearing qualities all the same. So keep that in mind; this is my top 10 list. If you want to suggest your own in the comments section, I would love to hear them! Now, on to the list, in no particular order...
Rise and Shiny: Kartuga
MMOs are a very serious business these days. If you ask someone what type of MMO she prefers, you're more likely to get an explanation that sounds as if she's telling you what political party she belongs to. As a person who writes about games, it's easy to slip up and suggest that these virtual worlds we play in should offer different types of gameplay and even offer different ways to pay for them. If you're not careful, your readers can get angry and call you insensitive and inaccurate names like noob, sell-out or, even worse, journalist. In steps Innogames. On the surface, the developer and publisher doesn't seem to be more than a peddler of semi-challenging browser-based games, but spend a few weeks with the lineup and you'll find yourself appreciating not only the innovation in the German game-maker's lineup but also the variety. Kartuga is the latest to come from Innogames, and it's fun. I know, I know... fun seems to have become a dirty word when it comes to MMOs (it's not immersive or hardcore?!), but I for one am so happy it came along.
Rise and Shiny: Game of Thrones Ascent
There are several things that Game of Thrones Ascent, a social game by Disruptor Beam, does right. At the top of that list is the way the game works as a vehicle for easily digestible content, content that comes from some of the densest reading material in modern fantasy. For the record, I still haven't read any of the books that the Game of Thrones television series is based on, but luckily I have a wife who will simply burst with excitement when she reads some new tidbit... unless she tells the nearest person (me). It must be hard making a game based on such a popular piece of fiction. The fact is that I didn't expect the little-known developers to do much good. I thought players would be smashing through a game that served as nothing but a cheap commercial for the HBO series. I was very wrong.
MMObility: Innogames' Fabio Lo Zito on cash shops, quality, and PvP
One of the greatest parts of my job is having the ability to take a peek into the minds of some of the industry's most creative developers. If an interview goes really well, I come away from it with not only a deeper understanding of mechanics or policies but some knowledge about the creative process. For me, MMOs represent a perfect storm of writing, music, art, and math; they click my creativity into hyperdrive. I couldn't write about MMOs if I didn't love them so much. I'm not sure why I didn't notice German-based developer Innogames until relatively recently, but its lineup is more varied, challenging, and immersive than many of its rivals. It makes titles that offer a variety not only of gameplay but of accessibility. All of its titles can be played in a browser, and now a handful are available even on mobile. I sat down with Innogames' Fabio Lo Zito during a livestream earlier this week to discuss what makes it all work.
Learn about the ships of Kartuga with this new video
Boats! Who doesn't love 'em? If you just answered "me," you're probably not the key demographic for the upcoming pirate battle game Kartuga. But if you do like boats, oh boy have we got news for you. Three different ship sizes and 40 visual types -- it's ship heaven in there. Small ships are speedy but can't really take a hit, large ships are virtually unsinkable but not so quick at maneuvering into position, and medium ships take all things in moderation. You don't just get to look at these ships, oh no! You get to fight in 'em. At the core of Kartuga is cooperative PvP. You'll go head-to-head with other captains in teams of four. The game goes into closed beta at the end of February, and you can preregister now. Skip below the cut to take a good, hard look at the boats. [Source: InnoGames press release]
New video shows off Kartuga's Mayan, Mediterranean, and Oriental locales
While last month's video highlighted one of Kartuga's classes, the Destroyer, the latest trailer shows off the visual diversity of the upcoming action-MMO's three different kingdoms. Players will be able to battle each other while dodging among the architecture and landscapes of the Mediterranean-flavored Ithosia, the Mayan-inspired Kartu, and the Oriental-themed Empire of the Sun. Within each locale are sectors divided into PvP or PvE mission areas. Kartuga will start with nine different sectors for players to explore. Philipp Arlt, game designer, stated, "We want to show that the wonderful world of pirates can be more diverse than what is out there now. Players can expect a lot of visual variety from Kartuga." Check out the stylings of the three kingdoms in the clip after the cut. [Source: InnoGames press release]
Massively Exclusive: Kartuga's first pirate class is the Destroyer
Earlier this year at E3, we got a hands-on taste of the sea-faring battles in the upcoming action-MMO Kartuga, where players engage in PvP as pirate ships. Today, we get to introduce you to the first of the three ship classes -- an agile, all-purpose weapon aptly christened the Destroyer. Built to be the aggressor in battle, the Destroyer deals massive damage while counting on speed and maneuverability instead of durability to avoid sinking when attacked. While there are only three pirate classes, players will be able to further customize each one by unlocking skill trees that branch into three different specializations. As Destroyers, players can become a Raider, a Ravager, or a Brawler. Raiders specialize in hit-and-run tactics, whereas the Brawler has the thickest armor and can wade into the battle. The Ravager, however, is best played from a distance, lobbing attacks from long range. Want to see what this class can do? Watch the trailer after the break. And if the game looks right up your fjord, head on over to the official site to sign up for a chance to participate in the closed beta planned for early 2013. [Source: InnoGames press release]
Free for All: Free-to-play and mobile at GDC Online, part 1
GDC Online was fantastic this year. Really, it's great every year, but I found more bits of goodness this time around than ever before. It's simply my favorite convention, possibly because it's aimed more at press and devs than at fans. There's a wonderful lack of loudspeakers booming dance music and only a handful of booth babes. In other words, GDC Online is quieter, smaller and more professional than a typical fan convention. For a grumpy old gamer like yours truly, it's heaven. I can actually talk to developers without having to scream over music. What did I find, and what excited me this year? A lot. We've already written up or recorded many interviews so far, but I wanted to take this week's Free for All and MMObility to recap the stuff that truly got me excited. Let's get to it... there's simply too much to see!
E3 2012: InnoGames talks pirate MMOs, strategy titles, and games for women
At this year's E3, we had a nice long chat with German studio InnoGames about its MMO repertoire. The company actually started out quite small with three college buddies, who released their first game only to their close friends. That game, Tribal Wars, and its original servers are still around, albeit with some updated graphics to keep things looking fresh, but we wanted to focus on the team's more recent offerings. While InnoGames has several titles under its belt, including Bounty Hounds, we focused primarily on Kartuga, a pirate-themed strategy MMO; Lagoonia, a social building game created by and aimed at women; and Forge of Empires, which is similar to the Age of Empires series. All three games are free-to-play browser games, and we even got a pinch of hands-on time.
