Tabula Rasa: More News From GDC!

MMORPG has posted their thoughts on Tabula Rasa from GDC!

Tabula Rasa is one of those games that we haven't heard a great deal about during its development cycle, which began back in May of 2001. That's not to say that the game today has had six years of development, as Tabula Rasa has gone through some sweeping changes since its original concept.

Today, Tabula Rasa is a game that, at first glance, integrates the fast-paced action of an FPS with the detailed story and advancement of an MMORPG. Set in a post apocalyptic Earth, after an alien species came to us and invaded wiping many of us out entirely, this game is seen as something new and exciting for many players.

Garriott describes the game as "a step forward in the design of MMOs", integrating combat that is real-time, fast-paced and strategic. Character placement is just as important in Tabula Rasa combat as you would expect it to be in any FPS. If you character is standing behind waist-high sandbags, for example, he becomes more difficult for an enemy on the other side of those sandbags to shoot at accurately. The catch for the players is that once the AI enemies realize that they can't hit you, they will take appropriate action to fight you. In short, the combat appears more reactive than many MMO players are used to in their genre.

Even though it plays a valuable role in TR, or any MMO for that matter, combat is not the be all and end all of this game. Things like missions and character growth also take a front seat in the game's design. As players collect missions, they can and will be given more missions from different factions in the game that conflict with one another. We are told that players will be forced to make specific and difficult decisions about which path they will take. The detail continues as side-missions can be undertaken within the larger scope of a main mission that will have consequences on the overall arc. The example that we saw required that players destroy an enormous machine. In one of the side missions, the player learns that the machine has a weak-point, thus aiding him / her in his /her final objective.

Read the full article over at MMORPG!