Gods & Heroes: Rome Rising

Encyclopedia : G : GO : GOD : Gods & Heroes: Rome Rising

This article or section contains information about a computer and video games>computer or video game .
It is likely to contain information of a speculative nature, and the content may change dramatically as the game's release approaches and more information becomes available.

Gods & Heroes: Rome Rising (abbreviated as G&H) is the title of a MMORPG in development by Perpetual Entertainment which was announced on March 9, 2005. The game aims to bring the world of Ancient Rome to life as a persistent online arena featuring gods, creatures and monsters from ancient mythology. It was originally slated for release in Q4 of 2005 but has been pushed back and is now due for launch in fall 2006. Sony Online Entertainment [link] was recently named as the publisher and distributer for the game in North America.

Contents

Heroes

Gladiator

The enslaved or the soldier of fortune - the title of Gladiator bears no prejudice. A fight is a fight, and only those worthy of glory out-live their fellow combatants. In the same style as the soldier, the gladiator is skilled at up-close combat encounters. Unlike his dutiful counterpart, the gladiator knows no honor in a fight and thus is the master of entangling and slowing melee targets so as to gain the upper-hand. While the Gladiator has the ability to be more deadly than the Soldier, he has not had a soldier's training. As such, the Gladiator tends to take more damage than the soldier. The Gladiator lives to fight his way to the top in a spectacularly bloody fashion; no trick too dirty, no enemy too intimidating. For these reasons the Gladiator oftenworships the goddess of victory, Fortuna, or the mighty Jupiter, the father king.

Soldier

More than just a master of weapons, the Soldier is also a master of his body and mind. The Soldier represents the pinnacle of Roman military might – loyal, courageous, and above all, disciplined. Quick to defend his country and his companions, the Soldier is more than just the trained combatant a Gladiator is; he is bred to defeat his foes and as such can take more hits. Few stand against a Soldier of Rome and his unrelenting sense of duty which is why he’s able to do significant damage to single enemies. Soldiers tend to be very strong and are a nice compliment to the Priest’s healing abilities. Because of these traits, the soldier often follows either Mars, the god of war, or Minerva, the goddess of divine wisdom and war.

Scout

The Scout finds his way among the animals and the earth of the Republic. Few survive the deadly accuracy of his bow. He is the ultimate outdoorsman, living to sleep beneath the god’s open skies, summoning food and drink from the bountiful blessings of the land, and luring those he pursues into deadly traps. He is unrelenting and patient, he is swift and his speed affects his traveling companions, giving everyone a much needed boost when moving from one place to another. The Scout is ideal for ranged combat and is know for bringing the hunted to the hunters. For these reasons the Scout lays his life down for either Diana, the virginal killer, or Apollo, the god of archery and the sun.

Rogue

Under the swift eye of Mercury, or the vengeful hand of Nemesis, the Rogue’s only fealty lies to the god he serves, and even then no god dare turn their back on him if they’re carrying a fat purse. Raised under the scornful eye of the Republic’s burgeoning cities, the Rogue’s wits are sharper than his blades, dealing extensive blows to enemies from the cover of stealth. The Rogue is adept at locating and disarming traps that would leave his counterparts severely maimed, or – more realistically – dead. He has learned that his only true friends are the shadows in which he walks. Nimble, swift, clever, and deadly, able to get to places others cannot.

Priest

Loyal to the point of forsaking all others, the Priest is undyingly tied to his god. Serving either Pluto the grim king of the netherworld or Juno the virtuous defender of morality, the Priest finds his life devoted to prayer. It is through his unyielding dedication to the gods that he finds his strength, not by the edge of the sword, but in wielding the power of the gods against his foes and healing his companions. His knowledge of the rites of healing and cursing is unsurpassed and the Priest has even been known to bring his companions back from the dead and strengthen those who fight beside him. His powers lie in supporting those companions and as such, he is vital to the survival of those who dare wander through Rome.

Mystic

Sheer magical force is the Mystic’s way. Whether walking in the shadows of the dark goddess, Trevia or enjoying the pleasures of the earth god, Bacchus, the Mystic commands magical power like no other. The Mystic attacks from a distance and thus in his wisdom relies on the support of his fellow companions – the Gladiator or the Soldier – to protect him. However, the Mystic has the power to bring destruction upon multiple foes at the same time and is often known to use a variety of curses upon his enemies to weaken them, while supporting his companions.

Gods

Apollo

Class: The Scout

Symbol: The Bow and Arrows, and the Lyre

Animal: The Lion

The son of Jupiter and the twin brother of Diana, Apollo is known as "Archer of the Sun" for many reasons, namely because he is the god of the sun. He is also the god of prophesy, medicine, archery, plagues and the destruction of plagues - particulary of rats and locusts - purification of immoral deeds, and colonists. He drives the solar chariot across the sky pulled by a team of fiery white horses. He is armed with a bow which he uses to fire plague-inducing arrows upon those who would defy him.

Apollo is also known as Phoebus, the radiant god Sminthus ( rat ), and Parnopius ( locust ).

Minerva

Class: The Soldier

Symbol: The Aegis

Animal: The Owl

Minerva is the goddess of wisdom, medicine, the arts, science, industry, trade, justice and skill, protector of towns and heroes, goddess of war, and the creator of numbers and of music. Jupiter conceived Minerva with metis, and then ate the woman to avoid the prophecy that a child born of her would slay him. Minerva sprang full grown from Jupiter's head when Vulcan struck him with an axe in order to releive a massive headache. She wears her mother's Corinthian helmet and robes as well as a spear and shield.

Minerva is also called Athena, Nike, Bellona, and the gray-eyed goddess.

Bachus

Class: The Mystic

Symbol: The Thyrsus Wand and the Wine Goblet

Animal: The Panther

Fortuna

Class: The Gladiator

Symbol: The Ball

Animal: The Horse

Diana

Class: The Scout

Symbol: The Spear and the Crescent Moon

Animal: The Stag

Juno

Class: The Priest

Symbol: The Distaff and the Peacock

Animal: The Bear

The queen of the gods, Juno is the wife of Jupiter and the mother of Mars and Vulcan. She is the goddess of marriage, the home, childbirth and the finances of the state. Because of her zeal in punishing her husband's any mistresses she also has become the defender of moral values.

Other names for Juno include, Hera, Vesta Regina ( the queen ), She Who Warns, and Bobis ( the Large-Eyed ).

Mars

Mercury

Trevia

Nemesis

Jupiter

Pluto

Creatures

Combat

Squad Combat

So it seems a word from one of the devs would be appropriate here. So you ask about squad AI. Simply put, YES we are thinking quite a bit about how combat starts. Instead of trying to clue you guys in to some of the rules of combat, let’s just take a quick example of one situation that we will be able to have out in the overgrown woods of Venatrix where stragglers of the Samnite army have hunkered down.

So, hypothetically speaking, your squad of 3 melee fighters, 3 ranged fighters and one priest, come upon a small clearing. On the far side, on a hill, you see a single Samnite on a hill. The Samnite raises his hand to his brow to shield his eyes from the light. He appears to be a lookout. You, being a smart player, realize that he is most likely a scout for the Samnite camp that is just on the other side of the hill he is on. You run the situation through your head and decide that you would like to take him out first, but want to make sure an entire Samnite legion is not over the hill. You flank around the clearing, making sure not to alert the scout. Your maneuver reveals 7 other Samnites that all appear to be casually hanging out at around a campfire. A few melee fighters can be seen talking while a few other ranged fighters sit at a table and eat. A last one, maybe the leader, can be seen sleeping inside a tent on the far side of the fire.

You reevaluate the situation and realize that the scout on the hill is far enough from the rest of his squad that a carefully placed attack could take him out before he could either call for help OR run back to the camp to warn the others. You array your squad appropriately along the bottom of the hill, all the while making sure the line of sight from the scout to your squad is always blocked by the terrain. When you feel you are as close as you can be with out alerting the scout you decide to make your move. You have many options (which will vary by class and minion type), but in this case you decide to go with brute force so you send your melee AND ranged minions up the hill to overwhelm the scout.

You clearly see the scout panic and turn towards his camp. He breaks into a run. Success! Luckily it takes only a single attack round to kill him. He only makes it a few steps before he is full of arrows. He didn’t even have time to call for help.

You tell your minions to form back up around you as you now relish your improved odds over the squad that is over the hill. Deciding that you easily have the advantage you decide a quick rush will work best. You have your priest minion buff your squad as you rally your minions with your own leader buffs. You just barely crest the hill so you can see the squad and then give the order to charge. Your melee fighters charge into battle as the enemy squad realizes they have been attacked. They jump into position as quickly as they can. The enemy ranged fighters back up quickly to create as much distance as they can from the player. The enemy melee fighters cluster together and attempt to engage your incoming melee group. Leaping from the tent is the now awake spellcaster leader who is obviously spending all of his energy on buffing his melee fighters. It is decision time for you. Do you help your melee fighters by telling your ranged fighters to attack the enemy melee as well, or do you send your ranged fighters forward a bit so they can reach the enemy ranged fighters?

This is just a quick taste of an absolutely tiny bit of combat…

- Combat described by John Mundy

World

External links

From Wikipedia, the Free Encyclopedia. Original article here. Support Wikipedia by contributing or donating.
All text is available under the terms of the GNU Free Documentation License See Wikipedia Copyrights for details.