is working to meld two distinct games together and then offer them online. Taking a first-person perspective and melding it with a strategy game is nothing new (Dungeon Keeper, Raven Squad...) but taking that, force gamers to choose a side (which decides RTS or FPS) and then making it an MMO? Well, there’s something new altogether! So we sat with with Mark Hood at Reality Gap to talk about what makes Battleswarm: Field of Honor (not Heroes) so unique.

[GDN] What makes Reality Gap different from every other developer and publisher trying to jump into the MMO space right now?

[MH] First of all, Reality Gap is a publisher, and the creator of a microtransaction system. As a publisher, our charter is to try new, innovative titles, not to try to simply translate games from asia and hope they work.

Monato Esprit has an economy that is entirely user based. There are no item stores, only consignment stores where you can buy items from others. If you want a great, rare item you can buy it from someone else perhaps, but not from us.

To get it from the game you must either enter a dungeon or craft the items from various elements through hours of playtime. Not entirely new, but still I think it is a new trend in how MMO’s should work. I have heard that one of the largest MMO’s in the world, ZT Online from Giant is going this way. It’s new, and it’s cool, and it gives players a different experience. Battleswarm is clearly innovative and unique as a game genre buster, and that’s why we decided to localize and publish the title.

[GDN] Battleswarm: Field of Honor feels similar to Starship Troopers (bugs vs Humans), very different than other MMOs out there. What made this game stand out while you were shopping for titles?

[MH] Simply put it’s unique, and well done. It’s not a "blend" of FPS and RTS as some have tried, and others have stated about our game. It’s FPS VS RTS. There’s two games here - a team based FPS game that rocks, and a simplified team-based RTS game. Your opponents are other gamers, not AI.  I have played through the various gigantic budget FPS games of late, and I have to say they are amazing, and absolutely worth every penny, yet to me, Battleswarm offers a unique FPS experience that no one can match. Dropping into a map in Battleswarm and waiting for the match to start while doing something else on the computer, not knowing who is going to be on the "other side", then hearing the click click click, alt-tabbing back over to Battleswarm and now seeing who you are up against and who you have on your side, quickly planning your strategy, chatting or voice chatting with teammates to come up with a plan, then 6-10 minutes of total mayhem is just simply, amazingly cool. Capture the flag, offense defense, deathmatch - they are all excellent implementations, and the fact that you are playing  FPS vs real, live RTS players makes it like no other game.

Playing RTS has a steeper learning curve, but is equally rewarding. Playing with a teammate against 6 unknown players is just a totally new experience every time. No stupid AI, no "figuring out the designers plan"...just playing head-to-head, against people who are there to crush you. Stocking up on extra chips or genes, new eggs for new bug types, new weapons, new consumable items is just a blast.

[GDN] Digging into the consignment shop a bit, it looks as though players “rent” gear, potions and abilities, rather than buy or earn them long term. Why do you feel this is an advantage?

[MH] Renting gear allows you to change tactics as you advance, and try out different weapons, armor, bug types, genes etc. We have balanced the gold allotment so that you can actually play forever for free, renting different gear, or even the same gear all the time if you want to. If we made gear permanent, then we wouldn’t be putting as much gold into the economy, and you’d be stuck with the same gear for longer That’s simply not as fun. For a player who is constantly learning new tactics and seeing new bug types, it’s critical  to be able to think about and choose your specific weapons, armor, genes, eggs and items based on what is new and now in the game. We change maps every week or so, adding new maps, taking away other maps for rebalancing etc, and each map brings it’s unique challenges. If you were stuck with slow bulky armor when a huge map comes online you’d be hating life. If the next map to come up has nice large open spaces and all you have is melee weapons you’d be at a serious disadvantage. Renting allows players to try everything in the arsenal, and you can rent for in-game gold or real cash with MetaTIX.

[GDN] What kind of feedback are you getting right now?

[MH] We’ve been out of beta now for about three weeks, and the response has been overwhelmingly positive. We had tens of thousands in beta, and we listened to what they said and responded. We are always working on balance, and while some maps still favor one side or the other, our overall numbers show the balance to be very close. Good teamed up bugs still beat random humans, but good teamed up humans can beat two good bugs. (humans are FPS, bugs are RTS).
The trick on a game like this is to keep the balance close, and keep adding new maps and equipment that gently move the balance one way and the other.  Clearly the RTS (bugs) has a steeper learning curve, so we have just added two new maps that are PvE for bugs only (player vs environment, or AI). These maps really can help noob bug players learn to play this particular RTS well, as it is a very different thing playing against real human teams.