Infantry (computer game)
Encyclopedia : I : IN : INF : Infantry (computer game)
Infantry Online is a two-dimensional, top-down, multiplayer, combat, computer game utilizing complex soldier, ground vehicle and space-ship models on typically complex terrains. Players may choose from a list of game zones to enter, each zone having a unique style of gameplay.
History
Sometime in the late 1990s, now-defunct Virgin Interactive Entertainment (VIE) began to develop a game called Sniper; later renamed SubSpace. It has been speculated SubSpace was one of the major causes of VIE's bankruptcy. As the project was free for many years, it was a drain on the company's resources with no actual income. Some of the developers of SubSpace bonded together to form Harmless Games LLC. They developed a new game engine; the project was named Infantry.The game was developed, gained a cult popularity and was picked up by Brainscan Development Corporation, also known as Brainscan Interactive, as publisher. GameFan, the parent company of Brainscan Interactive, went bankrupt and did not pay its employees for a period of several months. Rod (Rodvik) Humble, the lead designer of Infantry, was offered a job with Sony Online Entertainment (SOE) and left Harmless Games. Larry J. Cordner (LJC) also found another job, but stayed with the development team until shortly after Harmless Games was bought by SOE. Harmless Games, and its sole game, Infantry, was bought by SOE from Brainscan Interactive for an undisclosed sum.
The two remaining developers, Jeff Petersen (programmer) and Jerimy Weeks (artist and zone designer), were hired by SOE to continue development of the game. Some time later, SOE had them develop Cosmic Rift (CR), an offshoot of Infantry meant to compete with the still popular SubSpace. CR had gained a small portion of Infantry's and SubSpace's communities, but its population still paled in comparison. In October 2001, Petersen was transferred to EverQuest 2 development and Weeks was laid off. Game development stagnated. In May 2002, SOE rehired Weeks and introduced a monthly $6.95 pay-to-play plan for SOE's three small action games: Infantry, CR and Tanarus, however, both Infantry and Cosmic Rift remain free to play with limitations. Infantry's and CR's populations have since declined drastically from daily highs of thousands at a time to a mere hundred or fewer players. In October 2005, Weeks was laid off again and a new developer was put to the task. Hope for the game's future was questionable, as the new developer was Joe Nelson, whose only prior experience with Infantry involved customer service duties, who held the position for only a few months. As of May 2006 there are three SOE employees delegated either full or part time to the game. Bill Corning, Jose Araiza and recently re-hired developer Jerimy Weeks.
Game setting
The time is set several centuries ahead of the present. There is a war between the government (The Collective) and the various rebelling moon colonies of the outer solar system. The Collective is a pure democracy, every single citizen has a voting unit in which they vote on every single issue, although more often only on the issues that concern them. The rebels are mainly located in the outer colonies of the solar system and are a vast minority compared to the large populations on Earth and Mars. The rebels feel their colonies are being exploited for resources and labour due to the fact that they have little voice on what is decided. The citizens of the larger populations cannot understand why people would rebel from a system where everyone has a say and thus the war. Titan has the largest population of the outer rim colonies and therefore the major battles are between them and the Collective army, however, many colonies provide militia and able bodies to the cause of groups such as the Europan mercenaries. Due to the chaos many privateers have emerged, such as the Morgan Raiders who will throw in with anyone providing the credits, although, they have no particular love for anyone.Development staff
- Lead Programmer
- Formerly Jeff Petersen (aka. Bagman)
- Formerly Scott Mitchell
- Lead Designer
- Formerly Rod Humble (aka. Rodvik)
- Lead Designer/Artist
- Jerimy Weeks (aka. Yankee/Azathoth)
- Lead Artist
- Formerly Juan Sanchez (aka. Tswift)
- Tools Programmer
- Formerly Larry J. Cordner (aka. ljc)
- Brainscan Producer
- Nick Fisher (aka. Trixter)
- Gameplay Coordinator
- Corey Doyle (aka. MF Doom)
- SOE Producer
- Formerly Rob Hill (aka. Qombat)
- Formerly Dallas Dickinson (aka. IronEagle)
- SOE Station Pass CSR
- Formerly Paul Williams (aka. soePWilliams/Soepy)
- Formerly Joe Nelson (aka. No~0ne/SoeJoe)
- SOE Station Pass Technical Moderator
- Bill Corning (aka. Revenant)
Game zones
- Capture the Flag - Fast-paced basing action. The most popular zone.
- RPG - Role-playing. Based off of a past-time zone favorite, WZA (War Zone Alpha).
- Fleet - Real time strategy action. Massive spaceship battles in asteroid fields.
- Bug Hunt - Marine vs. alien arachnid fighting. Marines are slow-moving and have long-range weapons, bugs are just the opposite.
- Skirmish - Massive team vs. team fighting. Several variants exist. Some include tanks and other vehicles. Most employ static flags for territory holding.
- Gravball - Sport zone. Players pilot hoverbikes on a large map with various obstacles, attempting to shoot the ball over the opposing goal square while avoiding opponents' weapons.
- Boom Ball X - Sport zone. Players play on a small, hockey-like arena and are restricted to either to aft, mid or fore sections of the field.
- Soccer Brawl - Sport zone. Eleven-a-Side razzle-dazzle soccer where players are allowed to body check one another.
- Ambush - Fast-paced action. Players use jetpacks or hoverboards to fly around collecting flags and blowing up other players.
- Team Deathmatch - Fast-paced action. Players use multitudes of weapons against eachother in tight corridors.
- TankODrome - Arcade-style play. Players drive tanks, launch projectiles at other players and computer turrets to collect tokens. Tokens are used to buy vehicle upgrades. Discontinued due to extreme disinterest.
- Chamberts Moon - A slow moving, but none the less highly addictive game in King of the Hill style of play (KotH).
External links
- [Infantry], official site.
- [InfantryZone.net], eccentric community spawned from the official forums.
- [Savage Decay], the newest fansite.
- [Fleet Command], fan site for the zone Fleet!.
- [CTF Players League], a league based on the Capture the Flag zone. Website is in process of switching to Savage Decay from USL forums.
- [Skirmish League], a league based on the Skirmish zones.
- [Infantry GravBall League], a league based on the GravBall zone.
- [Unified Skirmish League], a league based on the Skirmish zones.
- [Boom Ball X League], a league based on the Boom Ball X zone.
- [Skrallistan], forums for the Bug Hunt community, organises the BugHunt League.
- [No Man's Land Team League], a league based on the Skirmish zones.
- [Soccer Brawl League], a league based on the Soccer Brawl zone.
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.