Infantry (computer game)

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Infantry Online
Screenshot (from Mechanized Skirmish) of Infantry Online.

Screenshot (from Mechanized Skirmish) of Infantry Online.
Developer(s) Harmless Games LLC
Publisher(s) Sony Online Entertainment
License Free-to-play
Platform(s) Microsoft Windows
Release date(s) 1999
Genre(s) Combat MMOG
Mode(s) Multiplayer
System requirements Pentium 90; 16 MB RAM; 28.8 kbit/s modem; 2 MB video card; Windows 9x or newer
Input methods Keyboard and mouse

Infantry Online is an isometric perspective multiplayer combat computer game[1] with sprite animation graphics, using complex soldier, ground vehicle and space-ship models on typically complex terrains.[2] Players may choose from a list of game zones to enter, each zone having a unique style of gameplay and many offering a wide diversity of weapons, player classes and objectives.[3]

Contents

[edit] History

In 1997, the now-defunct development team Virgin Interactive Entertainment (VIE) released the 2D Space Shooter, SubSpace. Members of the SubSpace development team banded together afterwards to form Harmless Games LLC. This new team designed and released Infantry during the late '90s.

The game was developed and was picked up by Brainscan Development Corporation, also known as Brainscan Interactive, as publisher. GameFan, the parent company of Brainscan Interactive, went bankrupt and did not pay its employees for a period of several months. Sony Online Entertainment announced its acquisition of Infantry on October 5, 2000. Rod (Rodvik) Humble, the lead designer of Infantry, was offered a job with Sony Online Entertainment (SOE) and left Harmless Games. Larry J. Cordner (LJC) also found another job, but stayed with the development team until shortly after Harmless Games was bought by SOE. Harmless Games, and its sole game, Infantry, was bought by SOE from Brainscan Interactive for an undisclosed sum. The two remaining developers, Jeff Petersen (programmer) and Jerimy Weeks (artist and zone designer), were hired by SOE to continue development of the game. Some time later, SOE had them develop Cosmic Rift (CR), an offshoot of Infantry meant to compete with the still popular SubSpace.[2] CR had gained a small portion of Infantry's and SubSpace's communities, but its population still paled in comparison. In October 2001, Petersen was transferred to EverQuest 2 development and Weeks later was laid off. Game development stagnated.[4]

In May 2002, SOE rehired Weeks and introduced a monthly $6.95 pay-to-play system for SOE's three small action games: Infantry, CR and Tanarus, however, both Infantry and Cosmic Rift remained free to play with limitations.[4] Infantry's and CR's populations have since declined drastically from daily highs of thousands at a time to a mere hundred or fewer players. In October 2005, Weeks was laid off again and a new developer was put to the task. Hope for the game's future was questionable, as the new developer was Joe Nelson, whose only prior experience with Infantry involved customer service duties, who held the position for only a few months. As of May 2006 there were three SOE employees delegated either full or part time to the game: Bill Corning, Jose Araiza and recently re-hired developer Jerimy Weeks, although Weeks' contract with Sony Online Entertainment expired at the end of April, 2007.[5]

In May 2007, Sony Online Entertainment announced full and free online gaming access to Infantry and the rest of their "Station Pass" games, starting on June 26, 2007.[6][7][8] "Station Pass" games started in May 2002 as a monthly $6.95 pay-to-play subscription, for Sony Online Entertainment's three action titles: Infantry, Cosmic Rift, and Tanarus. However, both Infantry and Cosmic Rift featured a free play mode that gave players access to a limited version of the game. Infantry itself was restricted to a limited playtime on servers (a player could only stay connected for half an hour before being disconnected), the inability to accumulate money, no statistical tracking and no personalised options. Now that it is completely free, Sony Online Entertainment released a Map Editor for Infantry, downloadable via the official site in July 2007.[9]


Alternative servers to the official Infantry Online have spawned over the recent years, initially to provide a free option to the game, most notably "Free Infantry".[10] However, with Sony Online Entertainment's announcement that has made Infantry and Cosmic Rift free of charge, the role of these servers transitioned to providing alternative maps and gameplay from the official server. They inevitably slowly faded out of existence as players went back to SOE's version of the game.

Infantry's versatile game style provided for the expansion of community squad development and implementation of squad vs. squad consisting of players worldwide.

[edit] Game setting

The time is set several centuries ahead of the present. There is a war between the government (The Collective) and the various rebelling colonies of the outer solar system moons, notably the Titan colony. The Collective is a pure democracy; every single citizen has a voting unit in which they vote on every issue, although more often only on the issues that concern them. The rebels are mainly located in the outer colonies of the solar system and are a minority compared to the much larger populations of Earth and Mars. The rebels feel their colonies are being exploited for resources and labor due to the fact that they have little voice on what is decided. The citizens of the larger populations cannot understand why people would rebel from a system where everyone has a say and thus the war. Titan has the largest population of the outer rim colonies and therefore the major battles are between them and the Collective army. However, many colonies provide militia and able bodies to the cause of groups such as the Europan mercenaries. Due to the chaos, many privateers have emerged, such as the Morgan Raiders who will throw in with anyone providing they are paid, even though they have no love for any faction.[11]

[edit] Game zones

Zones from both official and third party servers are included.

  • [I:CTF] Capture the Flag - Fast-paced basing action and the most popular zone. Maps for it are often rotated between a 2-team Twin Peaks, a 3-team Heinreich's Point, and a multiple-team "Extreme" involving the Titan Militia, Collective Military, Europan Mercenaries and others. Has an extensive store with purchasable weapons.[12]
  • [I:SK] Skirmish - Massive team vs. team fighting between the Titan Militia and Collective Military. Several maps exist, some including tanks and other vehicles. Most employ static flags for territory holding. Uses fast and realistic game physics. [13]
  • Chambert's Moon - King-of-the-Hill zone with a different set of classes, weapons and physics. Features small teams, aliens (Skrall) and various vehicles. [14]
  • Chambert's Tournament - Free Infantry's spin off of Chambert's Moon containing varied player classes, weapons, vehicles, and a separate map while maintaining the basic game play of Chamberts Moon.
  • [I:Arcade] Bug Hunt - Collective Marines vs The Skrall.[15]
  • [I:Arcade] Infestation - A new spinoff of Bug Hunt with new classes, objectives and weapons.
  • [I:RPG] Eol - Infantry's action/RPG project. Various versions including Eol Beta, Gamma and Advanced were developed with both related features and different weapons. [11]
  • Gravball - Sport zone. Players pilot hoverbikes on a large map with various obstacles, attempting to shoot the ball over their own goal square while avoiding opponents' weapons. [16]
  • Ambush - Features the use of jetpacks or hoverboards to fly around collecting flags and shooting at other players.[17]
  • Team Deathmatch - A basic fast paced zone where players pick up weapons against each other in tight corridors.[18]
  • Fleet - Team-oriented space action. The main goal of this game is to destroy your enemies Command Post while defending your own. This zone is no longer on the zone list.[19]
  • Conquest - A newer development, The Collective Military fight against Titan Militia by capturing thirteen flags on the planet Kleos. The Collective have all flags at the beginning of the game while Titan tries to take all of them under an hour. The Collective Military cannot recapture, but wins by holding them for an hour.
  • Combined Arms - Developed by the Free Infantry team, it is a large scale, complex warzone with an exhaustive set of weapons, classes and vehicles of its own map.[20]
  • Sports - Team-oriented sports maps. Several different sports maps exist including Gravball, Hockey Zone, Soccer Brawl, and Dodgeball.[21]

[edit] References

  1. ^ Portail d'informations Ce site est en vente!
  2. ^ a b http://infantry.station.sony.com/en/info_press.jsp
  3. ^ http://infantry.station.sony.com/en/info_features.jsp
  4. ^ a b http://www.freeinfantry.com/~sevem/indexA.html
  5. ^ http://forums.station.sony.com/station/posts/list.m?topic_id=11500003696
  6. ^ Press Center | Sony Online Entertainment Announces A Diverse Lineup Of Games Available At Newly Revamped Station.Com
  7. ^ Multiplayer Online Games Directory / News / Sony Announces 3 Free Online Multiplayer Games - Find Multiplayer Games Here
  8. ^ Multiplayer Online Games Directory / News / Infantry Goes Free Again Today - Find Multiplayer Games Here
  9. ^ Station.com - Infantry
  10. ^ Infantry something or another
  11. ^ a b http://infantry.station.sony.com/en/main.jsp
  12. ^ http://infantry.station.sony.com/en/guidebook_zones-ctf.jsp
  13. ^ http://infantry.station.sony.com/en/guidebook_zones-skirmish.jsp
  14. ^ http://www.freeinfantry.net/forum/viewforum.php?f=6&sid=3dd6e56722116f54de9a6805b45541e3
  15. ^ http://infantry.station.sony.com/en/guidebook_zones-bughunt.jsp
  16. ^ http://infantry.station.sony.com/en/guidebook_zones-gravball.jsp
  17. ^ http://infantry.station.sony.com/en/guidebook_zones-ambush.jsp
  18. ^ http://infantry.station.sony.com/en/guidebook_zones-teamdm.jsp
  19. ^ http://infantry.station.sony.com/en/guidebook_zones-fleet.jsp
  20. ^ http://www.freeinfantry.net/forum/viewforum.php?f=5&sid=3dd6e56722116f54de9a6805b45541e3
  21. ^ http://infantry.station.sony.com/en/guidebook_zones-fleet.jsp

[edit] External links

  • Infantry; Official Infantry website.
  • IGBL; Infantry Gravball League, Official website for the Gravball zone league.
  • CTFPL; Capture the Flag Players League, Official website for the CTF zone league.
  • USL; Unified Skirmish League, Official website for the USL zone league.
  • SBL; Soccer Brawl League, Official website for the SBL zone league.
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