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Star Peace by: Danciy Dynae Each day of our existence we encounter millions of people striving for wealth and /or fame; we wake each morning to a stirring, which drives us into a competitive persistent environment; we call it 'society.' Knowing that the great majority of us will never experience extreme prosperity or recognition, games such as Star Peace, allow us persistent worlds in which to test our competence as leaders and successors. Star Peace is a massively multiplayer role-playing strategic, economic simulation. Bear with me and I will explain that mouthful. Stepping into the Portal Star Peace is developed by Oceanus Communications, and being published by Monte Cristo. It has been in development since 1998 and began the first round of beta testing in August of 99 with its first commercial release in December 2000. Star Peace plans to become an environment which merges all different gaming genres. (i.e. creating an universe comprised of several unique functioning games.) Star Peace becomes the first installment for the new Universe, taking the "business component form." Monte Cristo plans to incorporate a 3D engine, an open research component, as well as regular additions of new structures, industries and regulations. The next phase is expected to add the political and illegal business subgame. Features will include: Up to 1000 players per persistent world, over 300 facilities to build and manage, more than 600 technologies to research and strategically players may choose to create alliances, enemies and /or decide to play as a recluse. Furthermore, there is a "player-rating" ladder system for each world and between each of the planets. Recommended minimum system requirements: P266, 24MB of ram and adequate 2D acceleration. Star Peace conveys the survival of humanity and takes place in the near future. Earth has reached its breaking point and a discovery of radical portals leads to a decision to transport the excess human population to a newly exposed world. Players will vide for power, money and the chance to be mayor or president of their planet. It is a game of intellect and intrigue. You must learn who your
friends are and whom you trust. Players will make-up and are responsible
for the entire society and for keeping the planet economically vital.
This means: roads, taxes, housing, public facilities, zoning, pollution,
trading, etc. The possession of power or the thoughts there of,
make many people react and plan with relentless deeds, at times. While, in the beginning, finding your way around Star Peace is self-explanatory, mastering the game will take time, trial and error, and patience. Players are given the option to join the game as a "visitor," better enabling the chance of interacting with other players and the game before actually beginning your company. It will allow you a few moments to get acquainted with the different planets and different companies, which you must choose from. After starting your company it will cost you prestige points to "reset" your account, something many veteran players declare is a bad decision. Once a player enters the game and creates a company, there is no way to delete or undo the work (without losing money or prestige); you exist in a persistent world where actions have consequences. (Younger players receive extra allowances /refunds per research and demolition of buildings.) The world revolves around micromanagement, strategy and politics. You will start with a 100 million dollar loan (you soon learn this is not much money), which is used to create your first company, researches and investments. Each facility will require workers, payment and a desirable area. I began with the Seal, The Moab [four to choose from.], and decided I wanted to have the best residential areas on the planet. The four "Seals" each have their own personalities and qualities, weaknesses and strengths. An example, Moab affiliates originated in Texas, control the best chemicals in the world, have shady food businesses and their highly popular high-class and low-class residential areas are known for mysterious murders in the night. Eventually, each player expands and will control many companies and structures. A great aspect of Star Peace is the ability to research quality
and efficiencies for your products and services. For instance, when
building my residential homes, I wanted to attract people quickly,
and for my homes to have added protection from pollution. In as
much, I researched any available improvements that would add beauty
and /or pollution defense. If a player chooses to produce clothing,
for instance, she /he might decide to make clothes of the best quality
(causing clothing to be more costly) or perhaps go the route of
efficient factories, which lessens the need for services and supplies.
Research becomes integral for success in Star Peace
and adds to the gaming experience, by enabling your companies to
be unique throughout the planet. The most interesting and absorbing aspect of the game: politics. What good is all this wealth and uniqueness without the ability for extreme power? In Star Peace, players not only become billionaires but also are able to compete for the position of mayor, for each planet's separate cities. The race for mayor begins with accumulating prestige points. Players acquire prestige points by building public facilities (i.e. jails, dumps, hospitals, schools, fire stations, police stations, monuments, etc) and completing researches. Each city will hold an election and the candidate with the most prestige points, on Election Day, will become mayor for that city. A Mayor controls a great majority of the city's foundation. Each city will have a town hall, which tells a player the total population, tax rates, supply and demand for products and services, jobs available, and availability of housing. The Mayor is allowed to set tax rates, the entire city's zoning, and is overtly responsible for the city's success. Greed and anger have caused many disputes over the "fairness" concerning a Mayor's power. Many players create alliances and set their companies to run respectively with one another. This proves to be a very successful ploy for many Tycoons. However, in Star Peace, with patience, you could take control of the entire planet, several cities, without ever making a lasting friend. Looking into the Future Star Peace does an excellent job of creating a futuristic environment. One that is believable, colorful, and lively. Moreover, the world can be viewed from 16 different zooms and /or rotated, which makes navigating and watching your planet much more viable. Hot Air balloons float amongst the clouds, as cars are busy heading from one destination to the next. The distinctive housing, which have too few residents or too high of crime in the near area, will fade to dingy and create havoc for the beauty aspect around them. Managing a Billion Star Peace is easy to navigate and has several mini- interface windows and a small map, which are simple to employ and hide-away, making the game expedient and agreeable for management. Quick links can be added in order to mark your buildings throughout the world and news flashes concerning the entire planet are continually updated. The easy-to-use interface comes equipped for in-game support, emails, both private and public chats, a character profile and links to Star Peace's website and message boards. Each building consists of its own statistics, and when inspected players are able to identify its cost, management, history, the quality of its surroundings, and any additional intricacies controlled by the owner. As well, players are able to import a personal photo into her/ his character profile page. As a result, when your buildings are inspected the photo will be displayed. Learning to control your buildings is a major element of Star Peace. Managing and organizing your buildings is the only way to assure your success. In addition, overlay views are available for each city statistic (i.e. pollution, crime, supply and demand, zoning, beauty, etc.) Players must take into consideration the quality of each zone; otherwise your structures will not be consistent or successful. If you build an area of residential homes without proper police or fire protection, your homes will be crime ridden, affecting many of its aspects. People will be less likely to move in, the area will lose most of its beauty and ultimately you lose money. The game can be played in English, French, German, and Spanish. The language variety allows players the opportunity to feel comfortable and at ease with the game's interface, as well as tossing in the thrill of being around and to some extent learning other's languages. The interface could be 'buggy', and would make controlling your companies difficult and at times impossible to inspect. Also, your building links frequently would not "save," making finding some of your structures near impossible. Er, did you hear that? I always find sound difficult to rate appropriately. Star Peace has relaxing background music and suitable sounds for industrial versus residential noises. Cars, factories, fire stations and such will make apt sounds. The music is nice in the beginning, but mundane and annoying after awhile. I hear it in my sleep. It is too repetitive and, as most games, seems to lack a larger selection of sounds and music. Although, the sound is easy to mute, and you can simply choose to listen to your own music in the background. Getting Lost Although Star Peace continually improves, playtime can be frustrating and tiresome. The world experiences many bugs and "time-warps." (Note: Time warps are much less frequent and appear to be under control at this point.) As in any persistent state world, warps affect every player and at times the effects can be detrimental. It can be very frustrating to spend several hours researching and building in a specific area, then come back the next day to find that all of your work is gone and some one else has occupied your spot or the Mayor has reserved the land. Problems in Space Star Peace Gms appear to be active in game on a daily basis. With a social chat system, you might frequently hear the GMs interacting with other players in the game. Also, you could easily page a GM for a private chat. Still Playing In order to play competitively in Star Peace you must spend some quantity and quality time getting to know the game and its intricacies. However, because the world is persistent, your companies will continue to exist while you are offline, and players with less time to devote are still able to advance and enjoy the game. Star Peace's many facades allow you to create a persona and reap in its social rewards and or failures. Gamers who enjoy micromanagement and interacting with more mature players will find a lasting draw to Star Peace. The biggest flaw with Star Peace is its seemingly 'beta' feel, which is costing many people 9.95 USD a month. Still, I look forward to the future worlds Monte Cristo plans to incorporate; each phase should draw a somewhat different audience and will add many facets to the game.
This article was posted first @ Stratics.
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