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Today we build on part one of our preview and get a look at some more unique aspects of Tabula Rasa, issues in the game and more comments from Richard Garriott, the man behind this title.

WarCry Previews Tabula Rasa (Part 2 of 2)
Based on hands-on play, interview with Richard Garriott
Article by Dana Massey

Character Building

Another unique aspect of Tabula Rasa is its class structure. Instead of picking a class, players take part in a branching system. Every few levels, the players further specialize their characters as they see fit. Yet, at each branch (or any other time) they can also clone their characters. Clones are identical statistical snapshots of characters. They have their own name, face and look, and must gather their own items (although players can share among their characters using a common foot locker), but they give players the ability to try different avenues of content without starting over.

“Each time someone starts at level one is an opportunity to exit [the game],” Garriott explained. Most MMOs (now I’m doing it!) ask players to start from scratch if they don’t like the choice they made with the character. In Tabula Rasa, players can simply retreat to a previous clone (a brother or sister as the game casts them) and pick the opposite branch of the tree. The advantage to the player is that he is never forced to play huge chunks of content over and over just to experience the game in a slightly different way, while the advantage to the developer is that players are more likely to experience the full breadth of content created for the game. As Garriott’s quote alludes to, the sense of investment in the game is maintained. If a player needs to start at level one to try something new, they could just as easily start at level one in a competing game. If he can start at exactly the point where his path diverged in a way he did not enjoy, then he’s more likely to stick with the product.

Gameplay

The team at NCSoft Austin has also been very aware of the minute-to-minute experience in the world. Garriott noted that many Beta testers have noted that they’re simply getting caught up in the experience, not counting their own experience gain. Based on a couple hours of playtime, I can confirm, I often had no idea what level I was. I just kept doing missions and shooting things.

One way they keep the action fresh is by providing experience gain bonuses to those who go on long strings in combat. The more enemies someone kills in a short period of time, the greater the modifier. Garriott explained the reasoning behind this by saying that players enjoy and have far more fun when they’re on the edge and in some danger. This modifier rewards that kind of intense sequence. Plus, they keep the scenery entertaining with signature deaths that randomly finish off enemies, one for each damage type. Without giving them away, think Mortal Kombat here.

Tabula Rasa also turns the artificial walls between players of different levels upside down. Typically, players can only play with and against players in a small level range around their character. Monsters below that level pose no threat and are of no consequence. Monsters above it are impossible mountains that can only be climbed by grinding your way to parity.

“In most MMOs, the level grind is life,” Garriott told us, using his now signature introductory clause.

In Tabula Rasa, the relative power curve is much flatter. Players can kill enemies many levels higher than themselves, they just need to play smartly. The difference, as Garriott illustrated, is between careful tactical combat and being able to run through like Rambo.

Every MMO needs boundaries though or how else do devs prevent players from going everywhere and seeing everything in a single day? In Tabula Rasa, the boundaries are more about the experiences of the player. Players need to complete missions, quests and puzzles to unlock new areas and go on new missions. In effect, Tabula Rasa is more like a single-player RPG.

In RPGs, players completed one quest to get to the next and just happened to gain XP as they went. Somewhere in the translation to online, things got backwards. In online RPGs, gameplay became about the XP, and the quests were limited by the level. Tabula Rasa sorts that dynamic out and puts it back in the order it was originally intended to be.

Items and equipment are another common boundary in MMOs. Usually, players need to get the best items to compete. Garriott acknowledged that some “min/maxers” will likely go out and figure out the best possible combinations, but claimed the intent is to make items a less pivotal part of the game.

“In Tabula Rasa, there is no single optimal weapon,” he explained.

In fact, it is more about the right equipment for the right situation. For example, one weapon type does no damage to biological enemies, but is invaluable against machines. Where then do players find these items? The game allows for both quest drops and crafting, and Garriott believes it’s important the top tier items come from both, lest either be unfairly made obsolete.

End-game

The end-game of Tabula Rasa revolves around the struggle with the Bane. The battlefield maps are collections of bases that the players must try to capture or defend. This is fast paced, real-time back and forth PvE struggle that should not be confused with games like Lineage II or Dark Age of Camelot, where the capture of a “base” is an important event. Instead, bases fall and are taken with regularity and at all times of day and night. Without players, the battle always rages. Players just tip the scales one way or the other through their actions.

This game provides some high level tactical opportunities for aspiring generals, too. A Bane attack is not just a bunch of monsters spawning at the front gates. They gather at their base and they move out. For example, in one case, Garriott told us how a group would walk across a map and attack a Forian town, consistently. The players could just allow the attacks and fight them as they arrive, or they could try and cut them off on advantageous ground. What’s more, if the players intercept these attacks - which typically take sneaky routes to their target - some of them are pre-programmed with alternative routes that they will take if too many of their soldiers are intercepted. This truly is a war.

Final Thoughts

These changes are all things badly needed in the MMO genre, and represent only a few highlights of many. Yet, it is not a game without flaws. For fans of PvP, Garriott admits that this title does not have as much as other games. Currently, they plan duels, group fights and guild feuds, but nothing more for launch.

The setting is also not really my favorite I’ve ever encountered, although they have done a good job on presentation and little touches, like a base army announcer who gives out comedic little announcements periodically as players stroll by.

Visually, the game is AAA, but not spectacular. They clearly are not going for photorealism, but nor are they by any means comical. It’s that awkward spot most games fall into. That means the color pallet is realistic, but it doesn’t look real. In some ways, it’s what people expect, but in others it’s the downside of both options. There is nothing wrong with the graphics and they take nothing away from the experience. They just lack that special something that makes games like World of Warcraft (on the exaggerated side) and the upcoming Age of Conan (on the more realistic side) shine.

The biggest problem I had with the game was occasionally the camera mode could be disorienting. Locked in constant mouselook means some natural movement, and then to aim, the whole screen moves. It’s like an FPS in that respect, but perhaps it could simply have been playing in a strange environment, but it was a bit unsettling. I have no doubt though that it would easily be adapted to. Once I got past the initial learning curve of handling the game - the refined gameplay changes some basic assumptions - it was easy and almost difficult to go back to more traditional means of control in an MMO.

If you read my GDC Preview, you’ll likely catch that I was less than impressed with what I saw. This time, the presentation was roughly the same, but actually getting to play the game made a world of difference. Tabula Rasa really must be played to be appreciated. The innovations, on paper, may not all sound too important, but the experience is unique to the MMORPG genre. It’s been a few years since Richard Garriott released a game, but when I got locked in that room to get a hands-on with Tabula Rasa, it doesn’t take long to remember how the man earned his legendary reputation.

Richard Garriott’s Tabula Rasa has entered its home stretch and recently we got the chance to travel to Austin, TX and talk to Garriott, his team and play this unique game. In many ways, it is an answer to the long-standing norms of the MMORPG genre. We look at how its different in this new preview.

WarCry Previews Tabula Rasa (Part 1 of 2)
Based on hands-on play, interview with Richard Garriott
Article by Dana Massey

Intro

When Richard Garriott speaks, it’s one part video game history lesson and one part preview of Tabula Rasa. So, when he talks about the core assumptions of most MMOs on the market - many of which he helped create - and then explains how Tabula Rasa changes, builds upon or shatters those assumptions, his word carries a bit more weight than any regular developer. When it comes to Tabula Rasa, it is clear that the core design was developed as a way to challenge those assumptions that seemingly every MMO makes.

Tabula Rasa, there is no question, is different from any MMORPG that’s been released to date. Innovation is a noble pursuit, but innovation for its own sake is a waste. With Tabula Rasa, Garriott and his team in Austin have struck that balance and have created a game that will undoubtedly expand the way players think about MMORPGs.

“In other MMOs…” Garriott would begin as he explained each core feature of Tabula Rasa. He used this strategy an innumerable number of times (I tried to count, but lost track quite quickly). He would explain the way almost every MMORPG did things such as combat, then explain why Tabula Rasa did it better.

“It’s a standard we invented,” Garriott noted, referring to the hot-bar, special move combat used in seemingly every MMORPG from 1997’s Ultima Online to April’s Lord of the Rings Online. In World of Warcraft, Garriott pointed out, that style of play had reached its potential. After ten years, he thinks there is room for a game that tries something new and, he hopes, invents a new school of thought when it comes to MMO combat mechanics.

Combat

Tabula Rasa is a science-fiction RPG/shooter, where players lock and load with a range of guns as they fight aliens (The Bane) who have already destroyed Earth and threaten the entire universe. Players control their character in third person, but with a persistent mouselook mode allowing them to aim in a style similar to single-player shooters like the Hitman series. As they pan around the screen, their crosshairs stick on enemies and when they click the left mouse button, their weapons fire. Instead of real-time FPS action though, that’s when the RPG dice rolls take over. It all depends on the character, his skills, his weapon and the skills of the enemy as to whether the shots hit or miss, and how much damage they do.

There are tactical elements, though. If a player is running, the game builds that into the accuracy calculation for him and his opponents. If the player kneels behind a log, which reduces the chance his enemy hits him. But while these considerations are important, it always comes back to basic RPG mechanics. The trick and key to Tabula Rasa’s success is that with its frenetic pacing, that fact is easily forgotten.

The game has the excitement and energy of a shooter, without the hand-eye coordination. What is more, it is also much more tactical than most would assume at a glance. There are a range of damage types, for example, and many of the monsters are literal puzzles. If you skip the quest dialogue and are not told how to kill them, they can be quite a challenge.

Quests and Story

Combat aside, the most impressive feature of Tabula Rasa is the way they’ve woven story, quests and what Garriott calls “ethical parables” into the game. At first glance, it’s easy to dismiss Tabula Rasa as a shoot ‘em up alien gore-fest, but in reality, this game appears to have some of the more complex, meaningful and engaging stories of any MMO on the market.

“Most MMOs abandon story,” Garriott told us. He went on to explain the difficulties of telling good stories in an online environment and reiterated that most people’s solution was simply not to try. With Tabula Rasa, he emphasizes the last three letters of the MMORPG acronym.

One way he does this is through instanced missions that look and feel more like single-player RPG missions than typical MMO instances. In the example show, he runs through an underground energy plant and eventually blows up the main reactor, crippling the Bane on the surface above for a short period of time. This mission has meaning, individuals cannot repeat it and it affects the world for all players in a small, but meaningful way. The only flaw is that in an MMO, everyone gets their turn. Garriott, however, does not believe that other people are concerned whether or not they were the only one to undertake the mission, so long as they had fun doing it.

The second prong of his attack is what he calls “ethical parables.” These missions make up about 20% of the total missions in Tabula Rasa and force players to make tough moral choices. In most MMOs (there’s that phrase again), players do exactly what NPCs tell them and that is one of the big reasons they likely didn’t even read the quest text. Sometimes, and players never quite know when, missions take on a greater significance. Players must make a choice between two courses of action, competing interests and ultimately the greater good.

No matter what they choose, there are consequences. Often, these missions are designed to challenge people’s real world beliefs. Garriott was careful to emphasize that he is not trying to moralize or take sides in these issues, but simply show people the possible side effects of their choices.

One example of a mission is the player must choose to either help someone cut off a supply of illegal drugs to the troops, or keep it going. Most people cut it off, but while that provides some initial rewards, they will eventually find that what they really did was simply help someone in the human hierarchy gain a greater hold on the supply and upset the morale of those troops who relied on the drug simply to survive the intense threat of death. If the player goes the other way and keep the drugs flowing, there are again distinct consequences.

In Tabula Rasa, players are encouraged to be aware and do more than just swallow what they’re told wholesale. Each group the player meets has its own agenda and its quests are for their benefit, which may not always correspond with the wellbeing of the player. It’s a subtle difference, but it makes Tabula Rasa feel less like a theme park and more like a world.

One of Garriott’s favorite tales is a surprisingly accurate simplification of most RPGs’ plotlines. Players are told from an early stage that they must fight the bad guy. They then spend the whole game killing, maiming and slaughtering people so they can prepare to fight that enemy. This bad guy waits at the bottom of a dungeon for the players to come kill them. At the end of the day, the body count is almost always much higher on the players’ side of things than the bad guy’s. In this, games diverge from traditional forms of storytelling, in which great lengths are taken to show how the bad guy truly does deserve to meet the end of the hero’s blade.

Tabula Rasa reverses this trend through, among other tactics, active placement of enemies in the world. It is not perfect, there are still apparent “spawn zones” where players can find specific creatures and enemies, but generally the enemies feel like they’re doing something, not just waiting for you. Again, it’s about making the place less of a theme park.

For example, outside one of the towns on the planet of Foreus, a horde of Bane soldiers engages the locals in a firefight. Regardless of my quest, the player feels compelled to stop and help out the good guys. It’s an MMO and eventually the game needs to recycle content, so the third and fourth times they go by that similar firefight, it makes sense to skirt it. Yet, just that touch makes it feel like the Bane are a real enemy, not some pre-programmed automaton who sits on a hill, waiting to be hit with a stick so it can give out candy.

Tomorrow, we’ll conclude our preview with the second half of our look at Tabula Rasa. This includes a look at some of the other places they set out to change the dynamic and some flaws in the game.

After many captures D’screen, or of the video presentations very promising - but only made up of sequences kinematics - here finally L’hour for all the amateurs D’action/infiltration D’to take full the sight of it ! Hideo Kojima indeed presented in Tokyo its Metal Gear Solid 4 in playable version for the whole first time, in live S’it you-likes! And this N’is not all, because in more of this future videoludic bomb, Metal Gear Online was also announced…

In this long 15 minutes video demonstration, you will be able to see the many actions that Solid Snake will be able to carry out in this decoration of urban war in the Middle East. Its new behaviour of camouflage is also of the part, and it will enable him to be based in L’environment to hide, qu’it S’acts to take the texture of the ground, D’a wall, or D’a statue.

This presentation carried out by Hideo Kojima S’is unrolled at the time of the ceremony of the 20^2nd birthday of the series in Tokyo, and it S’acts D there’a beautiful gift. However, all was joined together to return insane N’imports which fan of the series puisqu’to this live demonstration S’is added L’announces official of Metal Gear Online, always on PlayStation 3…

Without knowing when this one will leave, we know already that Metal Gear Online will allow jusqu’to 16 players S’to face on line by teams by re-using all the contents of Metal Gear Solid 4, S’inspiring of the on-line mode of Metal Gear Solid 3 : Subsistence. L’infiltration will be always required to locate and neutralize your enemies, your allies having blue silhouettes through the decoration. A phase of beta is already in preparation, which will make it possible 3000 lucky to discover this new play, even if we are unaware of still if the latter is reserved to the Japanese players.

For more D’information on Metal GEAR Solid 4 : Guns of the Patriots and Metal Online GEAR, you can consult the site Kojima Productions. The presentation of gameplay in video can be downloaded in high definition here ; you can also view it in streaming large size at this address, or there… N’do not forget either qu’it is possible for you to recover it via PlayStation Store. Below, find this presentation then the new trailer of Metal Gear Solid 4 diffused at the time of L’E3 2007.

Generation 1 Autobots Theme Name (150 MS Points)

Generation 1 Deceptacons Theme Name (150 MS Points)

The Game Autobots Theme Name (150 MS Points)

The Game Deceptacons Theme Name (150 MS Points)

System Blade

San Diego, California—The ever-popular Looney Tunes characters keep their irreverent humor and get a cool, modern look created by Warner Bros. Animation for their romp through time in an action-oriented, arcade style game. You’ll find yourself immersed in fast-paced combat with incredible weapons, puzzle-solving challenges, and vehicle-based action in rich environments inspired by the beloved, outlandish cartoons.

Look for the ‘Tunes in stores in September.

Arm yourself for fun in the upcoming Looney Tunes: ACME Arsenal™ video game. Tag-team with the ‘Tunes as they fight for their lives in a combat-packed, pick-up-and-play experience.

The Evil Mad Scientist is fed up with the Looney Tunesand plans to get rid of them once and for all. Using his homemade time machine and giant ACME eraser, he will travel through time and erase the Looney Tunesand their ancestors from existence. Little does the Mad Scientist know, Bugs Bunny and Marvin the Martian have stolen the Scientist’s designs and built their own time machine. Now, it’s up to the entire Looney Tunesgang—armed with their zany arsenal of ACME weapons—to chase the Mad Scientist through the ages and prevent him from erasing their past, present and future.

Loony Tunes in HD
The Xbox 360™ version touts high-definition, next-generation graphics in addition to real-time physics, animation blending, and Xbox LIVE® play for a two-player co-op adventure.

Take on enemies solo in single-player story mode, or team with a friend in two-player arcade mode. Assume the identities of seven playable Looney Tunescharacters, including Bugs Bunny, Daffy Duck, The Tasmanian Devil, Foghorn Leghorn, Marvin the Martian, Gossamer, and a special secret character.

Look for Loony Tunes: ACME Arsenal at your favorite game retailer on September 18, 2007.

The dream of user-created content was kindled as far back as the announcement of Xbox 360™, and we’re now finally beginning to really see how content crafted at the hands of gamers can both shape the games we play, and the community we play them in. Suddenly, that miraculous interception in All-Pro Football 2K8 can now redound to your glory when it’s shared online for the whole world to see.

NBA 2K7 introduced 2K Reelmaker.

We can already paint, customize, and sell (for in-game credits) cars online in Forza Motorsport™ 2, save clips of gorgeous destruction in Burnout Revenge™ and upload video of our latest sporting triumphs in EA Sports games.

2K’s Edited Highlights
One of the first and most intensive such features to grace Xbox LIVE® has been 2K Sports’ 2K Reelmaker, which allows you to not only capture and upload footage, but also to mold and edit it into a product that feels more like a Sportscenter highlight than a videogame replay. You can download the 2K Reelmaker from Xbox LIVE Marketplace for NBA 2K7, College Hoops® 2K7, and All-Pro Football 2K8.

User-created content is in its very infancy on Xbox 360
and we are already seeing some exciting results.

It’s important to understand that 2K Reelmaker is not product-specific. Its functions are based more on the realities of video editing than the particulars of any one game. It essentially works exactly the same for every 2K Sports game, so there’s no need to worry about learning the ropes all over again with each different title you play.

Prove your claims true with 2K Reelmaker.

Here’s how it works:

• Pick your plays: Before delving into which cuts, wipes, slow-motion and other visual tricks to employ, you should know that the 2K Reelmaker isn’t limited to a single saved replay. String and cut together multiple replays, creating a reel covering all the spectacular highlights of an entire game.
• Trim it up: Condense your replays by trimming extraneous footage. This can be done either before or after setting all the camera angles, freeze-frames, and other video tricks.
• The nuts and bolts: Once you’ve outlined your favorite chunk of replay, mold it to your liking by cutting between twenty-five different camera angles, modulate speed, or copy and paste bits for that highlight montage. Shoot the footage any way you please.
• Added effects: There are also dozens of sound and graphical effects, and fancy wipes for use between jarring camera cuts and new plays.
• Name your masterpiece: Of course, you can add a title to your edited highlight to better describe the contents for those perusing the videos available online.

The best part of 2K Reelmaker isn’t the slick and intuitive editing. The best part is that you can share the videos on Xbox LIVE through 2K Sports. There is a great thrill in sharing your triumphs with others, a lot of fun in seeing what other gamers have done on the field and with the highlight editor.

Off a tree, hit the path and onto the green.

Other Systems
User-created content is in its infancy on Xbox 360, but we are already seeing some exciting results, with even more intriguing features in the offing. And there are other systems out there besides the 2K Reelmaker. For example, Tiger Woods PGA Tour® 08 allows you to share video, but also to challenge friends and competitors alike to match your own ingenious shots. Hit a hole in one after knocking a spectator on the noggin near the green? Dare others—for in-game rewards no less—to rise to the challenge and match your masterful shot.

With the success and popularity of user-based content, we are seeing just the tip of the iceberg in terms of innovative features, and the future looks bright for even more ways to create and share game content.

Article by Ryan Treit at Xbox.com

Electronic Arts has just announced a new sweepstakes with an incredible prize package that’s sure to be a big hit with any game fan.

To celebrate of the release of Wing Commander™ Arena for Xbox LIVE® Arcade, EA is offering you a chance to win a copy of every Wing Commander game on every platform it was ever released on ever … except for one or two that were really hard to find.

Wing Commander Arena is now in Arcade.

One lucky winner will receive:
One Sega Genesis w/Sega CD

• Two Controllers
• Four-way Controller Adapter
• Wing Commander (Sega CD)

One Super Nintendo

• One Controller
• Wing Commander (SNES)
• Wing Commander: Secret Missions (SNES)

One Playstation Console

• One Controller
• Wing Commander III: Heart of the Tiger (Playstation)
• Wing Commander IV: The Price of Freedom (Playstation)

One Panasonic 3DO

• Two Controllers
• Wing Commander III: Heart of the Tiger (3DO)
• Super Wing Commander (3DO)

One Game Boy Advance

• Wing Commander Prophecy

Gateway 2000 Pentium One PC w/Windows ‘95

• One CRT Monitor
• One Mouse
• One Keyboard
• One Set of Speakers
• Wing Commander
• Wing Commander: Deluxe Edition
• Wing Commander II: Vengence of the Kilrathi
• Wing Commander II: Vengence of the Kilrathi Deluxe Edition
• Wing Commander III: Heart of the Tiger
• Wing Commander IV: The Price of Freedom
• Wing Commander Academy

PLUS:
One Xbox 360 Elite console and 11,200 Microsoft Points

LAST, BUT NOT LEAST:

Two runners up will receive 11,200 points for Xbox LIVE!

To enter you just need to sign up for the EA Arcade Newsletter! Just click here to sign up or click on the button that reads “Sign up for Updates!” in the top right hand corner of the EA Arcade home page. One entrant will be selected to win the whole bundle. For more information on the contest, read the official rules.

We’re still in the calm before the storm, with one major game release this week and the usual assortment of Xbox LIVE® Arcade goodness. There’s a lull until August 14, when the floodgates open with the highly anticipated Madden NFL 08 and Two Worlds™, and the releases don’t stop until after Thanksgiving, with well over 50 Xbox 360™ titles currently slated to ship between mid-August and the end of November. So, use the next couple of weeks to front-load some extra sleep time, because late nights are coming.

Start Your Engines
That is, unless you’re too busy playing NASCAR® 08, out this week from EA Sports, the future home of our soon-to-be missed Peter Moore. With 22 NASCAR-sanctioned tracks, the latest race equipment, and a new career mode, this former North Carolina boy is gonna be in left-turn heaven.

Sadly, this is often my view of the other cars in games like NASCAR 08.

New Arcade Titles
On Xbox LIVE Arcade this week, we have the release of Wing Commander™ Arena and Super Contra. Wing Commander Arena is an arcade shooter set in the universe of the classic PC space sims. If you have any doubt as to whether it follows the spirit of the original series, be sure to check out the fantastic StarSoldier Magazine manual. Funny stuff that reminds you of the great Origin manuals of old. “Chalk one up for the Maniac!” Also up this week is Super Contra, Konami’s classic arcade game where you take your Rambo-esque characters up against an alien menace, complete with two-player co-op support.

This Week’s … Book Review?
In last week’s column, I mentioned we’d been given copies of Drew Karpyshyn’s novel Mass Effect: Revelation after the Mass Effect™ demonstration at the recent E3 show. I’ve never picked up a game-related novel before, but hey, free book! I started reading it on the flight home and got hooked. Honestly, the main plot and the human characterizations are pretty standard sci-fi fare. It’s an entertaining read, but it probably won’t be up for a Hugo award.

A good read. These trees died for a worthy cause.

That said, though, Karpyshyn (who’s also lead writer on the game) has built a fascinating universe here, populated by an intriguing group of alien races. The book is a chance to encounter a deadly Krogan bounty hunter, Skarr, who shows just how unstoppable his species can be—and why you’ll find that other races are happy to see that the Krogan race is dying out. You’ll also meet Saren, a Turian Spectre (think “elite secret agent”), who plays a very key role in BioWare’s RPG. And you’ll get some backstory on Anderson, the character you play in the game. Add in background on the Mass Effect universe and its technology, the origins of the mechanized Geth opponents you’ll face in the game, and a host of other details, and you have a book well worth reading to help pass the time before the game’s November release.

The only downside is that the book will have you even more anxious for Mass Effect’s release. Usually, when you finish a good novel, you’re lucky to see the characters again in a sequel a year or two down the road. This time, you’ll get to actually interact with them in the game.

The novel is a great intro to the alien races you’ll meet in the game.

Karpyshyn mentions on his Web site that another Mass Effect novel is in the works for 2008 release. If you’ve read the book and you’re aching for another Mass Effect fix before the game releases, be sure to check out the Mass Effect Web site. It’s chock full of interesting background information on the characters, alien races, character classes, and more, not to mention wallpaper, drool-worthy teaser videos, and loads of screen shots.

Wrapping Up
Come by the This Week in Xbox feedback topic in the Xbox Forums and let us know what you’d like to see on the site, and what further improvements we can make on Xbox.com. This topic is for feedback on the Xbox.com Web site, which is the one place where I can work to make your suggestions happen. As opposed to the other suggestions, such as getting features added to your Xbox 360, raising your Gamerscore, telling top-secret release dates, or getting Grand Prix Circuit added to Xbox LIVE Arcade. Sorry!

Article by Denny Atkin at Xbox.com

The wildly popular, tile-based board game Carcassonne has made the natural and seamless transition to Xbox LIVE® Arcade. Rooted firmly in the world-building tactics so familiar to strategy fans, Carcassonne still holds a few tricks and a barrel full of innovative gameplay up its virtual sleeve, ready to challenge even veterans of the genre. The following basic tips should put you well on your way to understanding the subtleties of the game.

Let the board develop before committing forces.

Both Tutorials
Unless you’re a seasoned pro of the Carcassonne board game, take a good long look at the Tutorials available in the Help and Options menu. The first lays down the basic foundation of the game, but the second tutorial is even more essential for long-term strategy as it covers both the farming system, and how the endgame tally is counted.

Obstructing the Enemy
Like chess, it’s quite easy to get so sucked into your own strategy that you ignore the movements of your opponents. Examining the tiles and open positions of your enemy is almost more important than your own tiles.

• Use a road or city tile to help cut off an opponent’s farm from reaching farther down the map. This is especially useful since the enemy’s farmer cannot be recalled, cutting your opponent’s effectiveness.
• Close off a burgeoning enemy city before it expands further. Though it may seem counterintuitive to freely give your opponent points, it is often better to give away a few guaranteed points in exchange for eliminating the potential for a larger score.
• In a similar vein, placing intersections, road-bearing monasteries and other road ending tiles on short roads can minimize larger damage later in the game.

The River expansion helps fill out the board.

• Try laying tiles near an enemy road and place your own follower facing the same direction. Then, when the road is complete, the result is a wash as both players are granted the same number of points.
• Expanding cities near the end of a match can also greatly reduce your opponent’s total score. Unfinished city tiles only score a single point each during the endgame tally, so look for opportunities to ensure your opponent doesn’t complete their larger expansions.

Farming at the Right Time
Placing farmers near the beginning of a match can be dicey business. In the endgame, when the score is more settled and far more tiles are on the board, there are often solid opportunities for enormous gain. Plop a farmer down outside a monastery surrounded by fields with far away roads, and watch your endgame point total skyrocket.

Followers
The number of your followers is limited, and decreases if you employ any farmers during the match. Instead of using followers one after another in the early stages, try waiting a few turns to see how the board evolves before committing too many at a time.

The road to the castle.

Because the element of chance is found in every random tile you receive, it’s crucial to keep all your options open. You don’t want to be caught with a great opportunity only to find you have no followers to place.

Monastery Farms
Monastery tiles are not considered borders for farms, and so have nearly as much value in extending a farm as they do in providing points on their own. Consider this when choosing whether to place a follower inside or outside the monastery, and where to place the tile. Try to expand any of your own farms that you can, and ensure that they are placed far away from your opponent’s farms.

Few Open Positions
It’s easy to overextend yourself and open up too many point-scoring opportunities. Focus on only a few opportunities—three is good—at a time. Whether it’s expanding a farm, closing a city or finishing up a road, focus only on a new position after you’ve wrapped up one of the three you’re currently working on.

Carcassonne is a deep strategic game with a board that changes with every game. This gives it a freshness that provides new learning opportunities with every game. Keep playing and fine-tune your strategy to achieve success. Good luck!

Article by Ryan Treit at Xbox.com

Medal of Honor Airborne™ is landing on Xbox 360™ in August, and adds many elements never before seen in a World War II shooter. We recently caught up with industry vet Patrick Gilmore, Executive Producer for Medal of Honor Airborne, for some more information on this highly anticipated game.

Xbox.com: What exactly makes Medal of Honor Airborne a unique gaming experience?

Patrick Gilmore: Airborne breaks the formula of linear shooters. Most first-person shooters (FPS) put the player in a twisting graphics corridor, lurching him along from one shooting gallery to another, like an amusement park ride. We were determined to add tactical choice and freedom to the great core gameplay of aiming and shooting.

Choose your drop zone and plan your assault.

As a result, players never start where a designer tells them to. Instead, they start in the air, above the battle, and can choose where and how they want to attack. The game offers complete freedom of choice, and the systems we’ve put in place, from the A.I., to battle lines, to enemy cooperation, to a “command layer,” all adjust and react to player decisions. If you make some dangerous choices and die, you will respawn in the air, with a new set of tactics available.

Xbox.com: Wow, that sounds innovative and a departure from anything we’ve ever seen before in an FPS. Does Airborne feature linear gameplay or are the environments open?

Gilmore: The environments are completely nonlinear. We’ve designed every objective with a multitude of different approaches, which makes recon, flanking, firing solutions, and other tactics uniquely important in Airborne.

“We had to build a new A.I. system from the ground up, as
previous systems wouldn’t allow for this type of player choice.”

It’s been amazing to watch an FPS fan play Airborne. Most players are so conditioned to the single-path solution that they always attempt a frontal assault. That can be perfectly valid, but, invariably, those same players discover a flank through an alley or vacant building, or a ladder which takes them to a rooftop overlooking a fight, or a balcony or open window they can access with the drop for a totally different assault route. No matter how many times we show the game to someone, we get the same reaction—”Now I get it!” It makes the game more real and authentic than any FPS you’ve played.

Instead of a frontal assault, flank the enemy.

The other cool thing about the nonlinear environment is that, to accommodate the air drop, we have had to make every surface playable. That means that the “designed” paths on the street level and through buildings are useful, but so are the rooftops and other high ground. You can play this game from places that would break every other FPS—it is possible in most games to attack from a direction the A.I. is not scripted to deal with, in which case you get guys aiming and animating away from the player. Since most games funnel the player, the AI only has to deal with an attack from one direction. Not Airborne. You can come from any direction, including above, and your enemies will react and adjust.

Xbox.com: So it sounds like there has been some work put into the A.I. in Airborne.

Gilmore: To be able to provide gamers with player choice, we had to build a new A.I. system from the ground up, as previous systems wouldn’t allow for this type of player choice. That’s when we came up with the new “Affordance A.I.” system, which has been developed to react to player choice—no matter your play style. Affordance has given each ally and enemy the ability to think and react like a human, which makes for engaging and unpredictable A.I. In the military, an “affordance” is anything that provides soldiers with a combat advantage, whether it be cover, high ground, or even window or doorway which limits your enemy’s firing solutions. The Affordance system basically evaluates the environment, and scores every feature of the world in a way that the characters in the game can interpret and leverage.

Affordance A.I. gives enemies options so that encounters are handled intelligently by the game on the fly instead of relying strictly on a built in, scripted event. In your standard scripted and linear shooter, for example, you may be forced to enter a building through a side door where you’ll be encountered by the same enemy every time, or the same plane or helicopter will crash at the same spot each time you play it. With the new engine, you can come in from the rooftop, a window, a back door, or the front door, and the A.I. will react to your presence differently, and enemies will leverage the environment to resist. That kind of intelligence has been scripted in previous games. In Airborne, the enemies really are that smart.

Xbox.com: It appears that the Medal of Honor Airborne team has been very focused on making this an innovative and replayable experience. Anything else you’d like to let our readers know?

Gilmore: Well, player freedom has been a core focus through the entire game, so, although exploring and learning the maps provides a lot of satisfaction, we wanted to find other ways to reward the player beyond “you’ve passed this linear toll gate.” To do that, we introduced the ability to “level up” your weapons via an upgrade system. What we found in our research was that historically, there were a variety of upgrades, field modifications and customizations used by soldiers in WWII, and we’ve integrated them into each weapon in Airborne.

Get weapon upgrades as you play through the campaign.

As far as how it works in game, the player needs to gain experience with the weapon he wants to upgrade. As he gains experience, he receives proficiency commendations which unlock upgrades for the gun being used. This allows for players to get invested into their weapons, to gain experience and upgrade them for more firepower, quicker reload, a scope, grenade launcher, or whatever it may be. Once the player has upgraded his weapon, it stays with him, so there is a payoff from the investment in the weapon. It also creates some interesting choices—do I stick with a really powerful weapon which I’ve gotten fully upgraded, or do I invest in another aspect of my arsenal?

Beyond the upgrades, we’re also proud that Michael Giacchino, who originally gained fame as composer of the first Medal of Honor back in 1999 and has since scored The Incredibles, Lost, Ratatouille, among others, has returned to score Airborne.

Xbox.com: What do you have to say to people who think WWII is played out, that it has been done over and over again and there is nothing new to present?

Gilmore: Well, since Medal of Honor in 1999, these games have been following the same formula—and I agree that approach has been played out. We chose Airborne because it was a source of great gameplay innovations, as well as an opportunity to get out of the French countryside and into more urban and industrial settings—places the war touched which haven’t been the subject of previous games.

The Airborne was also the beginning of a legacy which survives to this day, so the opportunities to bring a unique new game style to different eras and settings is also there. After playing the game, I heard one guy comment, “the list of things that are different about Airborne is longer than the list of things that are the same.” So, yeah, WWII was played out. Airborne is our response to that. Try the game and you’ll see.

Xbox.com: We can’t wait to start parachuting onto the open battlefield. Thanks for your time, Patrick!