QJ Interview: Pirates of the Burning Sea
Avast there mateys! As promised yesterday here’s the entire interview with Flying Lab Software, the guys and gals behind Pirates of the Burning Sea, enjoy!
QJ: Pirates of the Burning Sea has been in development for quite a while, since before even the first Pirates of the Caribbean movie came out. What spurred you to begin work on a pirate game back then, and are there any pirate movies you look at as sort of inspiration?
Flying Labs: Our love of everything to do with pirates and the age of sail. There’s so much romance to the swashbuckling era, from dashing pirates wooing the governor’s daughter, to the stalwart naval captains leading their fleets into battle. It was a time of adventure, style and derring-do!
Of course, we look to a huge number of pirate, naval and swashbuckling movies as inspiration, from blockbusters like Pirates of the Caribbean series, Master and Commander, and The Mask of Zorro, to less known offerings, like A&E’s Horatio Hornblower, Sharpe’s Rifles and On Guard.
Read the entire interview after the jump!
Avast there mateys! As promised yesterday here’s the entire interview with Flying Lab Software, the guys and gals behind Pirates of the Burning Sea, enjoy!
QJ: Pirates of the Burning Sea has been in development for quite a while, since before even the first Pirates of the Caribbean movie came out. What spurred you to begin work on a pirate game back then, and are there any pirate movies you look at as sort of inspiration?
Flying Labs: Our love of everything to do with pirates and the age of sail. ThereÂ’s so much romance to the swashbuckling era, from dashing pirates wooing the governorÂ’s daughter, to the stalwart naval captains leading their fleets into battle. It was a time of adventure, style and derring-do!
Of course, we look to a huge number of pirate, naval and swashbuckling movies as inspiration, from blockbusters like Pirates of the Caribbean series, Master and Commander, and The Mask of Zorro, to less known offerings, like A&EÂ’s Horatio Hornblower, SharpeÂ’s Rifles and On Guard.
QJ: Can you tell us a bit about the naval, adventurer, and pirate careers players will be able to pursue?
Flying Labs: When you create your character, you can choose to be a member of one of the three major Caribbean powers, or you can choose to be a pirate. From that point on, your “career” is what you choose to develop.
As a citizen, you can choose to work for the Navy and gain access to the biggest, toughest ships, or you can stay an independent captain and make your way in the world by way of your guns, and your keen sense for business opportunities.
As a pirate, you have the fewest rules governing your behavior, but other people generally donÂ’t like you very much. ThatÂ’s ok, though, since you can steal and use their ships!
QJ: Can a group of players come together to Captain and crew a ship?
Flying Labs: Nope! We realize that people really want to do this, but we want to make sure that we only implement this ability if everyone aboard a ship has something fun to do. We really don’t want someone to have to play the “bilge pumping game” down in the hold, unable to see anything going on around them, their entire gameplay being “click on the pump handle repeatedly”.
Instead, everyone is the proud captain of their very own ship. If you want to get together with your friends, you will be a powerful squadron of ships, rather than just a bunch of guys looking for something to do on one little boat.
QJ: How hard is it for players to acquire a ship? What does one have to do to get their hands on one?
Flying Labs: That depends on how you want to acquire it!
While you could always pay for one, thatÂ’s an extremely expensive option, particularly since the ships available and their prices are entirely dependent on player shipwrights. Other options are waiting for someone to award you a ship in recognition for your valorous service in their cause. Trade companies and navies will often grant players ships in this way.
But the best way of acquiring a ship is only available to pirates: stealing one! Stealing ships costs you nothing, and can often get you into much better ships than you could get legitimately.
QJ: How intensive are the ship customization options in the game? Will players be able to alter their ships cosmetically and tailor them for different styles of combat?
Flying Labs: A resounding yes to both! Players have access to a wide range of visual customization options, from changing the primary and trim colors on their hull, to changing the base color of their sails. We even allow players to create their own flags and sail decals in paint programs, and if they are acceptable, you can wear them proudly inside the game!
And of course, you can also tweak your ship’s stats through ship outfitting, which include gun, sail and hull upgrades, and a variety of “special” upgrades.
QJ: How does naval combat work in the game?
Flying Labs: Naval combat in Pirates of the Burning Sea is all about movement and positioning. Since you move forward, but can only fire to your sides, planning your moves is a critical part of your strategy. And since your ship has four armor facings that each take damage independently, maneuvering to keep your guns focused on the weak side of their armor is one of the keys to victory.
ItÂ’s a tense, nail-biting experience, and I often hear people shouting at their ships to turn faster, or their guns to finish reloading. ItÂ’s quite exciting!
QJ: How long can players hold a port that they’ve conquered?
Flying Labs: As long as they can! The only thing that will force a port back to the original owner is a peace-treaty between the nations, and that only happens when the GMs decide that one side has “won” the strategic game.
QJ: What advantages does a group get from conquering a port?
Flying Labs: The conquering nation now has full access to that port, which means they get access to all the resources and items that are unique to that port. And since players can only respawn in friendly ports, it can be extremely important to hold a port deep in hostile waters.
QJ: Your mission system sounds pretty intriguing, allowing individual players to feel as though their adventures are personally tailored and you’ve mentioned that you plan on the missions being as intricate as those in a single player game. Could you go into some detail as to how this is accomplished?
Flying Labs: WeÂ’re planning a strong single-player storyline that will change based on the decisions the player makes. For example, letÂ’s say the magistrate lends you a well-armed ship to use in defeating the scallywags attacking Belize, but instead of defending the town you decide to just steal his ship. As a result of your choice that magistrate is going to be pissed at you, and there will be consequences for your actions.
Additionally, we take full advantage of our instancing technology. In a lot of MMOs you are limited to Fed Ex, collect X, and kill X missions, but we donÂ’t have that problem. Each encounter can be scripted to fit the story weÂ’re trying to tell you. We can have you run blockades, storm forts, capture enemy flagships, defend your town from waves of enemy attackers, ask you to escort diplomats to important tri-lateral negotiations, smuggle rum to thirsty piratesÂ… just about anything you can think of doing on the high seas we can accommodate. This is going to lead to missions that are more involved, more interesting, and frankly just more fun.
QJ: How does Player vs. Player combat in the game work?
Flying Labs: PvP is a major part of the world. At any given time, we expect a large part of the Caribbean will be considered a “hotspot”, meaning open PvP is possible around a port that is currently being contested by two nations. The PvP fights that players get into around a port will contribute to the balance of power there, and after three days of open hostilities, the port has a “Final Battle” event – a huge, intense, winner-take-all contest that determines the ownership of the town.
QJ: How is death handled in the game?
Flying Labs: When you die, you respawn at the nearest friendly port. Any “unsecured” items are lost at sea, and your ship suffers a point of “durability” damage. Once your ship runs out of durability, it is lost forever.
QJ: Can you give us an idea of what the system requirements will be like?
Flying Labs: WeÂ’re still working on those, but as a rough guess, we require broadband internet, a 3D card with 128 MB of video RAM, and a computer with at least 512 MB of RAM.
QJ: Tell us a bit about the graphics engine powering the game, what sorts of visual treats await players?
Flying Labs: What visual treats await players? A rolling sea glistening with sunlight in the late afternoon. Tropical beaches by the light of a full moon. The swaying shadows of your masts and sails across the deck of your ship, where you can watch your crewmen work the guns. Towns populated by a rich and colorful cast of characters playing at dice, getting drunk, fishing off the docks, or dancing a jig to the tune of a merry fiddle.
QJ: With all that graphical wizardry at work, how deeply will you allow players to customize their appearance in game?
Flying Labs: Wow – the possibilities are so vast!
The variety you can get out of the character creation system is staggering. You can make yourself look like a scurvy scallywag, a dashing rake, or a proud naval captain.
Players have access to 14 different customization areas on their character, from the hat they wear, to the jewelry around their neck, to the belts and sashes they wear around their waist. Once you pick an article of clothing, you can choose the texture it uses, and then you can even customize the primary and secondary colors. Just hit the “randomize appearance” button a few times to get a feel for the incredible options, and before you know it, you’ll have spent a half an hour having fun making the perfect character!
QJ: What else are you trying to do to make sure Pirates stands out from the MMO crowd?
Flying Labs: With pirates competing against the British, Spanish and French for control over the Caribbean using our innovative port conquest system, and a fully-integrated player-driven economy, we know that Pirates of the Burning Sea is a world that will appeal to countless players looking to live the dream of being a cunning adventurer, a daring naval captain, or a scurvy pirate! WeÂ’ll see you on the seas!
As always we’d like to know what you guys think, speak freely in the comments below laddies, Yar! (One more for the road, Yar!)