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Space Cowboy Online

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Space Cowboy Online (SCO) is a free, client-based MMO space shooter. In Space Cowboy Online, players pilot their own space fighter ships (Gears) on a number of planets, and even space itself. It has typical MMO elements such as leveling, currency, and a skills system. While leveling and acquiring items will give players an advantage in Player vs. Player (PvP) combat, the players themselves need to have skill. No one at any level is invincible against other players. Like with MMORPGs, you can trade items, customize your gear, form parties and guilds, which are referred to as formations and brigades, and fight other players.

Space Cowboy Online's client (983MB) was made available for download on May 22, 2006, with two initial download options available. The official server launch was to follow three days later on May 25, 2006 at 19:00 GMT (12:00PM PDT), but this initial launch time was delayed, and the servers instead went live after a delay of a little over twenty-four hours. Currently there are two active servers, 'Joymus' and 'Hovernmus.'

At the moment, there are still problems with the servers, particularly Joymus, which recently experienced a bug that caused all of the NPC monsters in the game to disappear. This was later fixed within the day.

Contents

Game Versions

Gears

There are currently four playable Gears for the players to choose from. The four available are : A-Gear, B-Gear, I-Gear, and M-Gear. Each Gear has their own particular play-style and uniqueness as well as weaknesses and strength. Typically, there is only level requirements to wear most equipment but engines come with stats requirement.

A-Gear

The A(ssault)-gear, also known as the "Anima Mortar" is the "heavy weapons" gear which has the capability to go into Siege Mode as well as drive on the ground and on the water. This gear is extremely useful in Nation Wars because it can camp a portal. Portal camping is when a player stays near a portal and shoots every enemy that comes out. Since with A-Gear you can land, it makes it harder for enemies to shoot you. The game is programmed so that A-Gears do more damage when they are on the ground and recieve less damage when they are on the ground. Some A-Gears skills can only be used on the ground, such as Siege Mode and Siege Defense. A-Gears, unlike the other Gears, use the standard weapon as their main weapon. The standard weapon is usually a gun, but for A-Gears they are cannons. A-Gears have a balance of Attack, Defense, and Shield. Their Attribute Skill is Snare Shot, which one shot at a target slows the target down, making the A-Gear a natural enemy of I-Gears. A-Gear's main skill is Siege Mode.

B-Gear

The B(omber)-Gear, also known as the "Brandy Burg" specializes in air-to-ground combat with their 'Bombing Mode' skill. They also have a balance of Attack, Agility, and Defense. The game is programmed so that B-Gears recieve less damage from the ground, and do more damage to the ground, making B-Gears natural enemies of A-Gears. B-Gear's main skill is Charge Shot, which charges a shot and fires it at an enemy, doing massive damage, and occasionally temporarily blinding the enemy by making a gigantic explosion.

I-Gear

The I(nterceptor)-Gear, also known as the "Idle Sniper" is the air to air fighter of the game. It can go the fastest, with 500 m/s booster speed, has relatively moderate armor compared to the other classes, but its evasion makes up for this. Its primary attributes are Attack and Agility, and its best skill is named "Frenzy", which at level 3 lets you shoot an extra round of missiles per shot. I-Gear's Attribute Skill is Hyper Moving, which allows the I-Gear to turn extremely quick. I-Gears excell at fighting B-Gears, making them natural enemies.

M-Gear

The M(edic)-Gear, also known as the "Meadow Bugle" is the support fighter of the game. Its primary attributes are Defense and Spirit.It has mostly stat buff skills, including skills that recharge fuel, shields, and health for targets or whole formations. It is generally slower but more maneuverable than the rest of the gears, as its engines can rotate better than other gear's engines. It is the most wanted gear in a formation as formations rely on them healing and buffing them, especially during Nation Wars. M-Gears make up for other Gears by excelling at what the other Gears are weak at. M-Gears can fight at close range, low altitude, and low speed, due to it's 0 speed engines. However, M-Gears are do less damage than the other Gears. M-Gears are not part of the traingle(A-Gears kill I-gears, I-gears kill B-Gears, B-Gears kill A-Gears(The triangle is just the Gear advantage, real fights depend on skill, level, and items. For example, an I-Gear can kill an A-Gear.)), they have advantages over no one, and no one has advantages over them.

History

Space Cowboy Online (International) originally launched in October, 2005 in an alpha release, also considered Episode 1. There were approximately six maps, one boss, and no mandatory PvP system in place. Players could only play as members of the nation of Bygeniou. In January, 2006 it transitioned to Beta, a.k.a. Episode 2. A second nation, Arlington, was added and pitted against Bygeniou. The two nations are locked in an ongoing nation war. PvP is mandatory for anyone who selects a nation, and those who do not cannot travel past Tylent Jungle, except by using the Warp Shop.

Episode 1 Story

From International site: (http://sco.gpotato.com/)

Half a century has passed since the humans arrived on the Phillon planet. The Deca and Vatallus, racial factions which were at an uneasy peace during the colonization of Phillon, parted ways, moving their settlements to opposing hemispheres of the planet.

As a result, the Artum project, the original mission which involved acquiring energy from the planet, had stalled. Both factions were forced to find convenient nearby energy sources, wreaking havoc on the environment in the process. The continually degenerating relations between Deca and Vatallus has put both sides into a cold war for resources.

A small handful of citizens made a huge fortune by monopolizing these resources before anyone else. To protect their empires, they ultimately pumped a large amount of their wealth into national defense. Munitions companies, too, made massive profits from all this funding coming in, they in turn funded their smaller business with this enormous capital. The resulting government was heavily influenced by by the desire and greed of the tycoons of this massive industry. This brought about an arms race which even managed to split the Decans of the Eastern continent into a smaller group of sub-factions. The munitions monopoly eventually settled into their own city, Bark City.

This upset many of Deca's other influential leaders who, along with many of the pilots who were part of the first settlement project, did not want their blood to be spilled for the sake of this industry.

A number of Decans staged uprisings, and they began to create quite a following. The munitions bigwigs stepped in behind the shadows, damaging the reputations of the leaders of this resistance, labeling them as traitors. These Decans escaped the city's sphere of influence. Their words of peace and environmental moderation were forgotten, and eventually ignored, and as a result, Bark City abruptly fell into ruin, with 80% of its population being decimated by an unidentified disaster. The people assumed that this was caused by the native Phillon race, or the Shrines who have also settled here. This led them to concentrate more of their resources on national defense.

A few people presumed that the destruction of Bark City was caused by the competition amongst the munitions companies. Many of them were considering to unite with Deca once more, while others were considering uniting with Vatallus. Perhaps these others were looking to expand their markets.

Following this, there was much speculation, protesting, and bloodshed among the Decans. Many of these people moved to the Redline district to expand their own influence. They built bases along both Redline and Starlite Valley, and located their main city in Redline. It became a New Bark City of sorts, although not in name. Bygeniou was humiliated by this, with its citizens worried that this new power could strike against them with its skilled pilots and wide array of munitions resources at any time.

Bygeniou City staged a preemptive attack against the new "rebel" (as they were called) forces, but too many Decans had strong feelings for their kin, many whom they feel to be the great heroes of Deca. Ultimately, this war went tediously back and forth without any gains.

Episode 2 Story

From International site: (http://sco.gpotato.com/)

Those who resided in Redline and Starlite were considered rebels because they wanted to improve relations between Deca and Vatallus. Their goals were not to be, however, as their one fatal flaw was that they were working with resources left over from Bark City, and those resources were running out. The Artum project had long been frozen by the constant infighting amongst the Decans, so both the rebels and those in Union City, on the east side of Eastern Continent, were suffering. Efforts to resume this project had failed. Years passed, and eventually the original reason for the colonization of this planet was lost. Fragments of information about the Artum project remains only in the minds of Deca's elders and their computer equipment which has not yet been recycled into devices of wars.

A few of those with knowledge of the Artum project crossed over to the rebel side, and together they secretly formed the city of Arlington, in the barren desert. Rebel forces gradually moved from Redline and Starlite, but the conflict between Bygeniou and the newfound Arlington remained. Union City on the other hand, which is close to where Arlington was founded, was destroyed, allegedly by the Phillons and the Shrines. In the meantime, Arlington was resuming the Artum project on its own. What will become of Bygeniou as a result?

Maintenance

Space Cowboy Online's servers undergo a scheduled two-hour maintenance every week, from 11:00 PM (PDT) to 1:00 AM (PDT) every Monday to Tuesday night. However, this period is subject to unannounced extension.

Music

While the game does have a basic soundtrack, you can switch in your own music at any time by moving music files (Mp3s confirmed, others unknown) into the "Music" directory wherever you installed SCO (Default: C\Program Files\Gpotato\Space Cowboy Online\Music). The music is activated using the music player in the bottom right corner of the screen.

Item Shop

Space Cowboy Online is a free-to-play MMO, with the option of buying in-game items with real currency via an item shop. This item shop was made available to players on June 23, 2006.

Links

 

From Wikipedia, the Free Encyclopedia. Original article here. Support Wikipedia by contributing or donating.
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