Shattered Galaxy

Shattered Galaxy
Developer(s) Kru Interactive
Publisher(s) Tri Synergy[1]
Platform(s) Windows
Release August 30, 2001[2]
Genre(s) MMORTS
Mode(s) Multiplayer

Shattered Galaxy is a massively multiplayer online real-time strategy game (MMORTS) that was released in 2001 by KRU Interactive., now known as Nexon Inc, after an extensive open beta period. In the US, it was published by Tri Synergy. It combines the attributes of a massive multiplayer online role-playing game and a real-time strategy game. Having won the Seumas McNally Grand Prize at the 2001 Independent Games Festival and hosted through the Game Developers Conference, the game has been commercially unsuccessful due in large part to its dated graphics engine. The game was published under the name Tactical Commanders in South Korea, published by Nexon until December 31, 2005. This game has also been serviced in Japan, Taiwan, and Germany.

Plot

Shattered Galaxy is set in a post-apocalyptic future. A teleportation device was found buried on Earth's surface, though scientists were not able to master its secrets. Various non-living substances were successfully sent through and retrieved, but when a common rat was inserted into the portal, it activated the artifact in an unexpected way: the device immediately teleported itself, as well as all matter in a 2000 kilometer wide radius around it, to the planet Morgana Prime. The player is one of the survivors of this incident. The planet itself was devoid of sentient life, but robotic war machines were found on its surface, and humans have since learned to control them telepathically (allowing the humans themselves to stay out of harm's way). Humans have since expanded to another planet (server) in the Morgana system, Relic, where wars likewise rage.

Other activities

Reincarnation

For players who have ascended to Level 50 or higher in at least one division, Shattered Galaxy offers a Reincarnation Event once every three months, in which the player is returned to Level 1 to begin the climb anew, an incentive only available in Morgana Prime. The player receives extra statistic points in proportion to total division level they have gained above 50, and two more total unit slots in their inventory. Players may Reincarnate as many times as they want (as of 8 January 2010, at least one player has done so 32 times, the highest so far), but must be a paying member of the game to do so. Reincarnation allows the character to have stronger units due to the extra attribute points, but the more attribute points one has, the higher power rating he has so the balance is still kept in check. Reincarnation is part of the RPG style of the game which allows individual characters get more attribute points and so have stronger units by experience.

Caving

Caving is a term in Shattered Galaxy for going into alien caves in order to fight and gain experience points. There are caves in every map. Caves 1 and 2 are in every capital whereas there are caves 1, 2 and 3 in other maps. Most caving is done on Relic fraction capitals cave 1, where the aliens consist of weak slursts and larvas. As the caves on Morgana Prime are famous for their tough difficulty level, caving is usually considered a waste of time. Also caving gives very little experience compared to fighting. Therefore, people recommend fighting a battle against other users rather than caving. Caves further from the capital have stronger aliens. A cave battle is similar to a normal battle but with only 1 POC, aliens instead of enemy factions, 2 minute poc time instead of one and 20 minutes battle time. Experience received in caves is based on how long a player waits before POCcing (slang for capturing a Point of Contention). Lastly caving causes a loss of Honor for paying heroes.

Mercing

Mercing is serving as a mercenary within the game. People can choose to become mercenaries for the 10% experience bonus and fight for the faction that has less online players. It is also a means of faction balancing. If 1 faction is too strong some will merc and fight back balancing the factions. One cannot merc if one is currently in a regiment. Mercing serves as a more efficient way of leveling especially for those 'Lone Wolves'.

Resources

Money the standard currency for all 3 factions, this is the resource that most Basic Heroes and Elite Heroes will use the most. From buying new units, repairing damaged or destroyed units, to equipping new equipment, all this needs money. In the past, it was entirely possible to actually run out of money if the player loses too many battles. Now Nexo has revamped the system, so it is almost impossible to run out of money as long as you keep battling and so is irrelevant to consider when playing the game.

Uranium is currently the only other resource being utilized. This is the resource which only Elite(payer) Heroes can use for various reasons, including the purchase of Gold Weapons, reseting stats, changing factions/planets and obtaining the right to purchase 2 extra unit types from the factory. Typically, Gold Weapons have better statistics than their normal counterparts, so serious paying players equip gold weapons for enhanced performance. Basic Heroes cannot use Uranium to outfit their weapons but can stock uranium, albeit slower than payers, so they can spend it later when they pay to become an Elite Hero.

Uranium is given out after the Faction completes its War Meter, which typically completes approximately every 5–7 days. The amount of uranium received is 3*X where X is your Power Rating. This is the only source non-payers can obtain uranium. Elite Heroes will also get a daily uranium tribute if they have at least one winning battle every 24 hours. The amount of daily uranium one gets per day is X/3 where X is the Heroes Power Rating. Uranium can also be obtained from various events which only payers can participate.

Sulfur, Ore, and Silicon were the other resources in the game, removed from gameplay long ago, with no current use or means of obtaining them. These resources, as well as uranium, were as plentiful as money in the past and were used in combination to buy equipment for the player's units.

Service

As of September 29, 2008, the game can be played using a basic account at no charge with a few minor handicaps or upgraded to an elite account at a cost of US$9.95 per month to play with all limitations removed.

Nexon has closed Tactical Commanders' service in Korea, Japan, and Taiwan. As of October 31, 2008, the German service was closed due to lack of players.[3]

There have been no new updates since 2006 except for the February 9, 2011 patch which fixed the CTD (Crash To Desktop) bug. No further major gameplay updates from Nexon Interactive are expected. Minor support for the game continues with sporadic "Double XP" weekend events, quarterly "Reincarnation" events, a yearly summer and winter tournament, gift event, and glory battle event.

In July 2017, key players, namely Wicked, began organizing weekly battles where many players would try to log on and play together. As the popularity of these events grew, more and more players contacted Nexon in the hopes they would renew support for Shattered Galaxy. In early August, Nexon responded by temporarily giving Elite hero status to all players free of charge. In addition, Nexon disabled the feature where NPC Aliens would invade and take over territories that had not been occupied by players for a length of time.

The free upgrade to Elite status reinstated many long-lost features, normally reserved for paying players. The disabling of Aliens made it much easier for opposing factions to battle each other, without the worry of formidable Aliens cutting off attack routes. These updates have since created a surge of renewed interest, with players logging on more frequently, and large battles forming more often.

Reception

Reception
Aggregate score
AggregatorScore
Metacritic79/100[4]
Review scores
PublicationScore
CGW[5]
Game Informer8/10[6]
Game RevolutionB−[7]
GameSpot8/10[8]
GameSpy77%[9]
GameZone8/10[10]
IGN8/10[2]
PC Gamer (US)64%[11]

The game received "generally favorable reviews" according to the review aggregation website Metacritic.[4]

Shattered Galaxy was a runner-up for The Electric Playground's "Best Independent PC Game" prize, but lost to Serious Sam: The First Encounter.[12]

References

  1. ↑ Walker, Trey (May 25, 2001). "Tri Synergy to publish Shattered Galaxy". GameSpot. CBS Interactive.
  2. 1 2 Adams, Dan (September 14, 2001). "Shattered Galaxy". IGN. Ziff Davis. Retrieved March 22, 2018.
  3. ↑ http://tc.gamigo.de/news/#1070
  4. 1 2 "Shattered Galaxy for PC Reviews". Metacritic. CBS Interactive. Retrieved March 22, 2018.
  5. ↑ McDonald, Thomas L. (September 2001). "Shattered Galaxy" (PDF). Computer Gaming World. No. 206. Ziff Davis. p. 97. Retrieved March 23, 2018.
  6. ↑ "Shattered Galaxy". Game Informer. No. 103. GameStop. November 2001. p. 128.
  7. ↑ Ferris, Duke (September 2001). "Shattered Galaxy Review". Game Revolution. CraveOnline. Archived from the original on September 8, 2015. Retrieved March 23, 2018.
  8. ↑ Chick, Tom (September 7, 2001). "Shattered Galaxy Review". GameSpot. CBS Interactive. Retrieved March 22, 2018.
  9. ↑ Hiles, Bill (August 22, 2001). "Shattered Galaxy". GameSpy. IGN Entertainment. Archived from the original on February 6, 2005. Retrieved March 23, 2018.
  10. ↑ Giacobbi, Kevin "BIFF" (September 26, 2001). "Shattered Galaxy - PC - Review". GameZone. Archived from the original on January 25, 2009. Retrieved March 23, 2018.
  11. ↑ Poole, Stephen (December 25, 2001). "Shattered Galaxy". PC Gamer. Vol. 8 no. 13. Future US. p. 82. Archived from the original on March 15, 2006. Retrieved March 23, 2018.
  12. ↑ EP staff (2002). "Blister Awards 2001". The Electric Playground. Greedy Productions. Archived from the original on October 13, 2003.
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