Shockwave Gaming
When gamers think of Shockwave games, most think of the arcade classics or variations.
A group of adventurous game developers is looking to change that.

By John "Warrior" Keefer

Macromedia says its Shockwave software "adds life to the Web." If a group of enterprising game developers has their way, it could add new life to computer games as well.

There are plenty of Shockwave games available, but most are limited as to what they can do. BattleAtlantis Inc. wants to expand the use of Shockwave into the online gaming arena.

But why Shockwave, especially when there are other powerful programming languages available?

"Development in Shockwave has been relatively prevalent in the past couple of years, but most complaints from Shockwave gamers has been that the games are too simple or don't have that addictive factor of most CD-ROM games," said Chris Kirkman, art director and Web designer for BattleAtlantis. "We have made it our goal to turn that misperception of Shockwave games around. Every game released from us will be developed in the same manner a CD-ROM released game would be."

"Shockwave, at its core, is designed for displaying graphics and sounds," said Serge Domkowski, the chief server-side CGI scripter and game programmer for BattleAtlantis.

"This, and its greatly improved scripting language and new networking capabilities, make it ideal for Internet games. Plus, it is cross-browser and cross-platform. What other programming language can claim to produce a cross-platform game without requiring programmers to rewrite the code for each platform the game is expected to be run on? You can't ask for a better reason for using Shockwave than that."

The BattleAtlantis Gaming Group was originally founded in 1998 on the principle of creating "intense, addictive Shockwave games and online communities for the
Internet." The group's first project, Fall of Atlantis, was begun as a test for pushing Lingo - the programming language behind Shockwave - to its limits in multiplayer design and interactive function.

"BattleAtlantis was originally started as a way for me to
fine-tune my Shockwave programming skills," said Chris Johnson, the company's chief project programmer. "I started the first version of Fall of Atlantis in November 1998 and it continued to grow as I spent nearly all of my free time working on it. I think it was about a month later when Serge got involved."

"We were not planning on becoming a gaming site," Domkowski said. "When I started on Fall of Atlantis, we had no idea this game would result in greatly improving our programming skills. When [Macromedia's] Director 7 was released and we developed the multiplayer capabilities for Fall of Atlantis, we knew we had something good. We saw the potential for even more advanced Shockwave games. We were hooked and BattleAtlantis came to be."

Fall of Atlantis (originally called Battle Atlantis), was
designed so that each player takes on the role of an Atlantean Warlord. The king has just died and his royal scepter, rumored to be the magical backbone of the strength behind the Atlantean empire, has been stolen. Without the scepter, no one can claim the throne as the successor, so every Warlord in the kingdom has declared war and is ransacking Atlantis' lands in an attempt to uncover the thief and the scepter.

The goal of the game is to successfully manage the single province you begin the game with, all while searching for other generals to join your ranks to protect the provinces and raid others. Beginning players should take a little time to read over each subject in the game's compendium; it details each command on every game screen and outlines the basic goals of the game. The compendium also offers on-the-fly reference during the game.

The beta for the game was released in Spring 1999. After months of play-testing and tweaking, the online game is now available for players to try for free. The only software needed is an up-to-date web browser and the latest Shockwave plug-in from Macromedia.

However, the game has not had many players... "With our lack of any real marketing for our first game, the number of players hasn't been that high," Johnson said. "All the comments we've received from our beta testers was positive, and we have seen support from fellow programmers telling us to keep up the good work, but at this point the reception has been small."

Although Fall of Atlantis is a working game, BattleAtlantis hope to use it as a sneak preview for what they hope will be the fledgling company's cornerstone product: Trinity, which is slated for release this summer. Johnson is the lead programmer for the project, while Kirkman is art and content director.

"At first I was eager to see if gamers would come to Fall of Atlantis through word of mouth, but it's obvious now that there's far too many things to divert attention on the Internet just to rely on 'hall talk,'" Kirkman said. "We've already begun a sort of slush fund for advertising for Trinity this spring, and I've already started sketching out our ad campaign. We want to make sure that people know Trinity is coming, and that the game has as large a reception as it deserves. It truly is a huge game, and we want nothing less than a huge amount of gamers interested in playing it even before it is released publicly."

"Trinity will introduce new concepts and capabilities not only to Shockwave games, but to online multiplayer games, as well," Kirkman said. "Trinity is, at its core, a free, multiplayer, customizable strategy trading card game. The game is a unique hybrid of a strategic planning game in the same vein as Civilization or Masters of Orion, combined with the customization ability and card strategy of games like Magic: The Gathering and Star Trek: Customizable Card Game."

The game is set in the far future, long after humankind has spread to the far reaches of the galaxy. The story focuses on the human empire, united and triumphant over the diversity of the past, yet full of corporate intrigue, vast possibilities, and cultural intricacies unimagined on ancient Earth.

The company thinks the game has the potential to become an online trading and gaming community, where players will log onto a personal corner of the site and organize their collected card decks for play or for trading with other players.

"The cards themselves will essentially be digital, but players will be able to freely trade them as easily as paper printed cards are now," Kirkman said. "Each player can come back to the site, fulfill certain criteria, and be rewarded with booster packs of new cards that they can then incorporate into their play decks or trade away. Then, of course, they can visit the play page and join games that are about to begin, eventually competing against up to four other players at a time.

"Trinity will emulate everything about trading card games played offline today."

Although it will be similar to playing games offline, Trinity will offer a host of new concepts that only the Internet experience can provide, he added. Most cards in the game and in player's decks will be animated, as will certain phases of the game itself. The game will handle most of the trivial functions that tend to bog down other card games now, especially in regards to rules interpretations.

Art will also be more accessible in Trinity. In traditional trading card games, the art is displayed in only one size on the card. In Trinity, each piece of art on the cards will be hot-linked to its own personal page, with an enlarged view of the artwork, more information about the card itself and about the artist responsible for it. The initial game will be free and available to anyone who has access to the Internet, a web browser and the Shockwave plug-in.There will be no initial cost to begin playing Trinity, and no cross platform worries. Registered users will be able to purchase card booster packs, or win them in site promotions, to add to their trading and playing decks.

As for the multiplayer aspect, all player interaction in Trinity will be real-time and immediate. Trinity also will offer an unprecedented concept for not only Shockwave gaming, but on the Internet, as well: The data cards will be independently existing digital objects that can be bought, traded and discarded, just like real trading cards.

"To our knowledge, no one else has attempted to do this on the Internet, Shockwave or otherwise," Kirkman said. Another projects slated for release this summer is Kill:bot, set in a dark future where every battle is fought by fierce robotic warriors controlled by the world's greatest hackers. Domkowski is the lead programmer for the game, while Kirkman is handling the interface
design.

Kill:bot is a multiplayer strategy game where each player must use commands to program their personally customized Kill:bot in an arena of combat. Only the wiliest programmer will survive. When finished, Kill:bot will be a site similar to Trinity, with gaming communities, strategy sites and strategy message boards.

On the drawing board for Summer 2001 release is The West, recreating the settlement of America's wild frontier. The game will be a real-time, economy-based multiplayer game that will allow players to control the lives of settlers as they venture out into the frontier.

"The open-ended game architecture of The West will allow every player to make decisions on how to make income, whether to form townships and the rules those townships will abide by - even discover the first gold vein to start the rush," Kirkman said. "Players will be able to gradually increase their influence and wealth, if they wish, even to the point of someday owning a grand railroad empire or setting up a direct competitor to the pony express. The framework of America's current western history will be intact at the beginning of the game, but all players involved over the continuing game-time will influence and change that history just like the original settlers did."

The company hopes The West will redefine the concept of an online gaming community as the game will be constantly progressive, spanning weeks and months of game time. New players may join at any time and become new settlers eager to edge westward, often offering their services to established players who have been playing for some time and have amassed wealth and land.

Of course, production of The West depends on how well Trinity and Kill:Bot are received.

"Needless to say, we've got our fingers crossed," Kirkman said. "Not just for our fledgling company, but for the future of Shockwave gaming."

Want to learn more about Shockwave Gaming? Read our Q&A interview with the
BattleAtlantis, Inc. founders, Chris Johnson, Serge Domkowski and Chris Kirkman.

| Shockwave Gaming | The Strategy behind the Strategy |