Mortal Online
Encyclopedia
Mortal Online is a First Person
, Open World
, PvP
/PvE
Sandbox MMORPG
developed and published by the Swedish
independent video game
company Star Vault
. Mortal Online was released on June 9, 2010. The game is inspired by the desire to return to Ultima Online's
player-controlled, sandbox-style game design
; it uses Epic Games'
Unreal Engine 3
and features a skill-based, real-time combat
system.
Mortal Online does not have a traditional level/class system, but rather a skill and attribute system similar to the Elder Scrolls series. There are ten different races for the player to choose from, including an orc-human hybrid, five human races, two elf-like races, and two dwarf-like races. In order to experience multiple possible playstyles, players can have three characters per account.
In June 2011, the game's first expansion titled "Dawn" was released. It introduced graphical and performance improvements; new features like the need to eat, drink and sleep; health, stamina and mana "reserves", a gene system for mounts, changes to the riding and related mechanics, a task system which allows players to create quests for others to do, a new housing system, character skills, world interactive objects, new pick-able resources including a wide selection of plants, a in-town mail system with cash-on-delivery to ease player trading and an updated game launcher.
The deployment of Dawn suffered many technical issues, leading to extended server downtime and certain game features being disabled directly after the release.. Additions such as the gene system and cooking were initially poorly received by some players, especially cooking as raw food is better than low-skill cooked food for in-game purposes. This, combined with early balancing issues, lead to extensive weight loss amongst player avatars which in turn cause attribute penalties.
In September 2011, Star Vault formed a "Focus Group" - essentially a test and early feedback group for upcoming releases and patches. Members of the group are active players that have signed a non-disclosure agreement with Star Vault. The purpose of the Focus Group is to augment Star Vault's limited internal resource and act as an additional quality assurance level before new releases and patches reach the general playing audience.
; hunt and butcher animals for use in crafting and cooking; tame animals; mine and ultimately refine rocks into precious metals; train their skills; or explore. Player-built structures can be attacked and destroyed by players, and certain wild animals that have been tamed can also be mounted, including horses and rhino-like creatures.
content, Mortal Online has an FFA (Free-For-All) PvP system, with consequences for killing other players in the form of “flags” which range from, among others, blue (innocent) to grey (criminal) to red (murderer). Being a criminal in Mortal Online (also known as being locally or globally "allowed") means that other players can either attack you without being flagged themselves, or can call the NPC guards on you in certain towns. Doing certain offensive or aggressive actions in the game will also flag the offending player "allowed", for example getting caught pick pocketing or simply pushing another player too many times within a short period of time. When a player dies, all of the items in their inventory drop to the floor in a loot bag, which is loot-able by all other players and disappears over a long period of time. Starting with the Dawn expansion, the loot bag also includes the corpse and the head of the player.
First person (video games)
In video games, first person refers to a graphical perspective rendered from the viewpoint of the player character. In many cases, this may be the viewpoint from the cockpit of a vehicle. Many different genres have made use of first-person perspectives, ranging from adventure games to flight...
, Open World
Open world
An open world is a type of video game level design where a player can roam freely through a virtual world and is given considerable freedom in choosing how to approach objectives...
, PvP
Player versus player
Player versus player, or PvP, is a type of multiplayer interactive conflict within a game between two or more live participants. This is in contrast to games where players compete against computer controlled opponents, which is correspondingly referred to as player versus environment...
/PvE
Player versus environment
Player versus environment, or PvE , is a term used in online games, particularly MMORPGs, CORPGs, MUDs, and other online role-playing video games, to refer to fighting computer-controlled enemies—in contrast to PvP .Usually a PvE mode can be played either alone, with human...
Sandbox MMORPG
MMORPG
Massively multiplayer online role-playing game is a genre of role-playing video games in which a very large number of players interact with one another within a virtual game world....
developed and published by the Swedish
Sweden
Sweden , officially the Kingdom of Sweden , is a Nordic country on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. Sweden borders with Norway and Finland and is connected to Denmark by a bridge-tunnel across the Öresund....
independent video game
Independent video game development
Independent video game development is the process of creating video games without the financial support of a video game publisher. While large firms can create independent games, they are usually designed by an individual or a small team of as many as ten people, depending on the complexity of the...
company Star Vault
Star Vault
Star Vault is a Swedish games company founded by its CEO Henrik Nystrom.Star Vault is the creator of Mortal Online, a first-person fantasy MMORPG using Unreal Engine 3. Mortal Online launched June 9, 2010.- History :...
. Mortal Online was released on June 9, 2010. The game is inspired by the desire to return to Ultima Online's
Ultima Online
Ultima Online is a graphical massively multiplayer online role-playing game , released on September 24, 1997, by Origin Systems. It was instrumental to the development of the genre, and is still running today...
player-controlled, sandbox-style game design
Game design
Game design, a subset of game development, is the process of designing the content and rules of a game in the pre-production stage and design of gameplay, environment, storyline, and characters during production stage. The term is also used to describe both the game design embodied in a game as...
; it uses Epic Games'
Epic Games
Epic Games, Inc., also known as Epic and formerly Epic MegaGames, is an American video game development company based in Cary, North Carolina. Its most recent success has been the Gears of War series of games, although it is also known for its Unreal Engine technology. It is the parent company of...
Unreal Engine 3
Unreal Engine 3
Unreal Engine 3 is a computer game engine developed by Epic Games. It is the third generation of Unreal Engine, designed for DirectX 9/10/11 personal computers , the Xbox 360, the PlayStation 3, the PlayStation Vita, the Wii U, Android and OpenGL-based operating systems such as iOS and Mac OS X...
and features a skill-based, real-time combat
Action game
Action game is a video game genre that emphasizes physical challenges, including hand–eye coordination and reaction-time. The genre includes diverse subgenres such as fighting games, shooter games, and platform games, which are widely considered the most important action games, though some...
system.
Mortal Online does not have a traditional level/class system, but rather a skill and attribute system similar to the Elder Scrolls series. There are ten different races for the player to choose from, including an orc-human hybrid, five human races, two elf-like races, and two dwarf-like races. In order to experience multiple possible playstyles, players can have three characters per account.
Development
In October 2010, approximately four months after its official release, Mortal Online's game engine was rebuilt, making it possible for its developers to implement better graphics, increase performance and introduce advanced features which were previously not possible on the older engine.In June 2011, the game's first expansion titled "Dawn" was released. It introduced graphical and performance improvements; new features like the need to eat, drink and sleep; health, stamina and mana "reserves", a gene system for mounts, changes to the riding and related mechanics, a task system which allows players to create quests for others to do, a new housing system, character skills, world interactive objects, new pick-able resources including a wide selection of plants, a in-town mail system with cash-on-delivery to ease player trading and an updated game launcher.
The deployment of Dawn suffered many technical issues, leading to extended server downtime and certain game features being disabled directly after the release.. Additions such as the gene system and cooking were initially poorly received by some players, especially cooking as raw food is better than low-skill cooked food for in-game purposes. This, combined with early balancing issues, lead to extensive weight loss amongst player avatars which in turn cause attribute penalties.
In September 2011, Star Vault formed a "Focus Group" - essentially a test and early feedback group for upcoming releases and patches. Members of the group are active players that have signed a non-disclosure agreement with Star Vault. The purpose of the Focus Group is to augment Star Vault's limited internal resource and act as an additional quality assurance level before new releases and patches reach the general playing audience.
Gameplay
Mortal Online has both PvP and PvE content, with the design focus on PvP. The lack of working AI limits PvE, something SV has promised to address in future patches.Learning Curve
The game offers a tutorial for newer players, though not overly in-depth, and a help channel in which they can ask questions in their first 8 hours of play. In general, although playing the game solo with limited or no interaction with other players is possible and is done by a percentage of players, it is discouraged by the game mechanics. Star Vault does not provide detailed information on certain important game mechanics (such as refining and crafting) - instead players are expected to research and experiment to gain knowledge about what works and what does not. This knowledge is then either used as an advantage against other players or shared on public forums. Players may not initially be willing to share whereabouts of certain rare items but eventually this information becomes publicly available.PvE, Crafting, and Exploration
Other than robbing, dueling, and killing other players, players can craft weapons, shields, armor; build houses, keeps, and palisadesPalisades
A palisade is a steel or wooden fence or wall of variable height, usually used as a defensive structure.Palisade or Palisades also may refer to:-Geology:United States...
; hunt and butcher animals for use in crafting and cooking; tame animals; mine and ultimately refine rocks into precious metals; train their skills; or explore. Player-built structures can be attacked and destroyed by players, and certain wild animals that have been tamed can also be mounted, including horses and rhino-like creatures.
Flagging System
Concerning the PvPPlayer versus player
Player versus player, or PvP, is a type of multiplayer interactive conflict within a game between two or more live participants. This is in contrast to games where players compete against computer controlled opponents, which is correspondingly referred to as player versus environment...
content, Mortal Online has an FFA (Free-For-All) PvP system, with consequences for killing other players in the form of “flags” which range from, among others, blue (innocent) to grey (criminal) to red (murderer). Being a criminal in Mortal Online (also known as being locally or globally "allowed") means that other players can either attack you without being flagged themselves, or can call the NPC guards on you in certain towns. Doing certain offensive or aggressive actions in the game will also flag the offending player "allowed", for example getting caught pick pocketing or simply pushing another player too many times within a short period of time. When a player dies, all of the items in their inventory drop to the floor in a loot bag, which is loot-able by all other players and disappears over a long period of time. Starting with the Dawn expansion, the loot bag also includes the corpse and the head of the player.