Pardus (browser game)

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Pardus
Developer(s)	Bayer&Szell OEG
Publisher(s)	Bayer&Szell OEG
Platform(s)	Browser
Release date(s)	September 14 2004
Genre(s)	MMORPG Space simulation Browser game
Mode(s)	Multiplayer
Rating(s)	Unrated
System requirements	internet access mouse keyboard

Pardus is an award-winning graphical browser-based MMORPG written in PHP and C/C++^[1] and set in a futuristic universe where players interact and compete in space. It is a persistent-universe, open-ended game with a player-driven economy. Players travel through hundreds of "sectors" or solar systems while trading, building or battling with NPCs and other players. There are dozens of spacecraft models in Pardus, which can be customized with different weapons, armor and other equipment. Pardus characters do not have a defined 'class'.

Partially inspired by classic computer games such as Elite and Master of Orion II, Pardus was developed and published by the Austrian company Bayer&Szell OEG. Alpha testing of the game began September 2004 and the core feature set was finished by October 1, 2006.^[2]

Contents 1 Background 1.1 Races 1.2 Factions 1.3 Syndicates 2 Basic gameplay 2.1 Ships and equipment 2.2 Combat 2.3 Economy 2.3.1 Extracting raw materials 2.3.2 Constructing buildings 2.3.3 Starbases 2.3.4 Trading, jobs and missions 2.3.5 Raiding, piracy, bounty hunting and smuggling 3 Player interaction 3.1 PvP combat 3.2 Alliances 4 Premium subscriptions 5 Awards 6 References 7 External links

[edit] Background

Pardus is set in a technologically advanced but war-torn universe. Players begin the game with a low-end spacecraft and attempt to increase their wealth, rank, skills and otherwise advance their characters. Players may optionally join factions and syndicates for rank-based rewards, or they may choose to build their wealth by developing trade routes or constructing buildings or starbases that produce commodities. Some players make a living smuggling contraband goods or pirating and raiding other players.

There are several different servers, or "universes", on which a player may create characters, but only one character per server is allowed, a rule which is strictly enforced. ^[3]

[edit] Races

Upon completion of the tutorial a player must choose from one of four races: Humans, Rashkir, Ska'ari or Keldon. Each race has a specialization bonus to skills, ship and/or equipment, as well as a starting homeworld appropriate to their species. Homeworlds may later be changed within the game. ^[4]

[edit] Factions

Factions are an important part of the game. There are three factions in the Pardus universe: the Federation, the Empire, and the Union. Each faction has a certain set of specializations, which gives players belonging to a faction access to unique ships and equipment.

• Federation

The Federation is one of the two ancestral factions consisting largely of Humans and Rashkir. The Federation specializes in ship construction and ship drives. Most Federation ships have some design advantages over their neutral and other-faction counterparts. The federation controls the region of space in the north-west part of the Pardus universe. The Federation as a faction has a regimented military type of rank structure and feel.

• Empire

The Empire is the other of the two ancestral factions consisting of mostly Ska'ari and Keldon. The Empire specializes in gun and missile based weapon systems. The Empire controls the southern part of the Pardus universe. The Empire has a lordship/monarchy type of rank structure and feel.

• Union

The Union is the newest faction. New players can only choose Union if selecting Rashkir or Keldon, though during its initial development, many former Empire and Federation pilots left to tap this new territory. The Union was formed by "Mad" Max Sheppard who was a trader - selling arms to both the Federation and the Empire during the Second Great War. The Union's original aim was to extend the fighting between the Federation and the Empire in order to profit by selling arms to both factions. The Union, at this point is quite well established as an independent faction. The Union specializes in shields, armor and special equipment such as advanced countermeasures. The union controls the north-eastern part of the Pardus universe. The Union rank structure and feel are that of an organized crime family.

Each faction controls clusters and a smaller Pardus contingent cluster. There are also many neutral (officially) clusters throughout the universe, many of which serve as buffer areas between faction clusters. However, a starbase build by a player belonging to a fraction exerts a certain amount of influence both economically and militarily.

Players interactions are key to fractions and is promoted by the game. Often on developed servers, cooperation within fractions are highly organized. Decisions are often made by players of the biggest and/or most influential fraction-affiliated alliances. The level of cooperation is such that on certain servers, the borders of some fraction-controlled territory are sealed by military outposts (controlled by players) that prevent those of other fractions from entering.

[edit] Syndicates

There are two Syndicates which generally represent opposed ends of the lawful/lawless ends of the spectrum. To join either syndicate, you must meet the reputation requirements of the syndicate. Syndicates are generally smaller than factions and do not claim territories. Each syndicate provides to its members access to unique ships and equipment.

• Esteemed Pilots Syndicate (EPS)

The Esteemed Pilots Syndicate is the syndicate of order and lawfulness. Members can also be a member of a faction, though the effect of reputation may kick the member from EPS during faction wars.

• The Shadow Syndicate (TSS)

The Shadow Syndicate is the syndicate of disorder and lawlessness. Members may not join a faction, and ex-members may not join a faction while piloting a TSS ship.

[edit] Basic gameplay

Pardus is browser-based and requires no downloads to play.^[5] From the main interface Players have a view of the local system they are in, plus various screens detailing the buildings in the area, the contents of their ship, the skills of their character and so forth.

All players must complete a tutorial before beginning the game. Though the main game is in English, the tutorial is also available in German, Italian, Polish, Portuguese and Spanish. ^[6] For the duration of the tutorial and a period of time after, a player has access to "Help Chat", in which experienced players make themselves available to assist newer players with problems or questions about the game. ^[7]

A critically important aspect of the game is the Action Point system - almost all actions require Action Points (or APs), which regenerate at a rate of 24 APs every 6 minutes throughout the day, up to a maximum of 5000 stored APs. ^[8] This prevents players who stay in the game all day from gaining a significant advantage over people who only log in once or twice a day for a short time. There are certain skills and in-game items which grant a limited number of extra APs, and players with a Premium Account may accumulate up to 5500 APS instead of 5000.

There are several ways to directly improve a player's character in the game. One of the most common ways is trading, which involves buying commodities and transporting them to another area where they can be sold for a higher price, often benefiting the area as a whole. Fighting NPCs improves a character's various combat attributes. Collecting raw resources improves collecting skills, and practising hacking or cloaking enables a player to better perform those actions in the future.

[edit] Ships and equipment

There are dozens of ship models available in Pardus; additionally each ship may be outfitted with various weapons, shields and other equipment. Ships and equipment available to a player depend on the player's faction or syndicate, faction rank, competency level and experience points. Ship choice also depends on what the player intends to use it for, fighting, trading, or a mix of both. ^[9]

[edit] Combat

Combat in Pardus is turn-based; the player chooses how many rounds to battle against an opponent. The number of hits and damage per hit each round is based on the combat skills and equipment of the character. Luck also plays an important role in combat. Some NPCs may hold a player for additional rounds of combat after a player tries to retreat.

[edit] Economy

The economy in Pardus is dynamic and relies mostly on player actions. ^[10] Several times each day all planets, starbases and buildings in the game consume and produce a variety of commodities, provided certain upkeep needs are met. There are dozens of types of commodities available, ranging from low-tech raw materials such as Food, Water, Energy, Ore, and Metal, to high-end finished products such as Droids and Hand Weapons. Some illegal commodities, such as slaves and drugs, also exist.

[edit] Extracting raw materials

Raw materials can be harvested in space. Each tile, or "field", has a raw material associated with it; for example, open space contains hydrogen fuel, and asteroid fields contain ore. Each field holds a maximum of 500 tons (t) of its respective material. However, the more a field is harvested, the slower the field regenerates, and the less can be harvested from the field unless it is given sufficient time to regenerate. This often leads to fields that are "strip-mined", meaning raw materials are very scarce or in insufficient quantities to be harvested. Strip-mined fields are one of the most common difficulties encountered by players in the more populated areas of the universe. ^[11]

[edit] Constructing buildings

Players can construct a variety of buildings, in order to produce commodities associated with that building. Buildings produce and consume commodities every six hours, a process known as "ticking". The commodities consumed and produced in a building depend on its Production Level, and the type of building. Players may stock their own buildings, or they may leave their buildings open to trade with other players; likewise, they may collect the produced goods themselves or leave those goods for sale for other players to consider purchasing.

Buildings are classified as "Low-level" (including asteroid mines and fuel collectors), "Mid-level" (including Electronics Facilities and Breweries), and "High-level" (including Hand Weapons Factories and Military Outposts.) Each have their own initial start-up costs and their unique necessary upkeep, some high-end buildings require a certain amount of experience or APs played before construction is allowed. ^[12]

A few buildings, such as Drug Stations and Dark Domes, though lucrative, are illegal in faction space and will cause the player reputation loss if built within faction borders. This reputation loss is often used by pirates to easily gain acceptance into The Shadow Syndicate and enjoy relevant benefits.

[edit] Starbases

Starbases are important trade centers in areas where no planets are to be found and are a very important part of the economy in Pardus. Player-owned Starbases, though generally more difficult to maintain than other buildings, can make their owners a considerable amount of money if well placed. Some successful bases tend to have private web pages with extended customer services, marketing, RP elements and/or investor programs.^[13]

An important function of Starbases is providing players with a place to repair their vessels, provided the Starbase owner builds a repair facility onto it. Starbases may also produce spacecraft, which the owner may then sell to other players. Unlike most other buildings, Starbases may be transferred to another player, and even conquered and taken forcefully. Starbases also play a key role in inter-faction wars.

[edit] Trading, jobs and missions

One of the simplest methods of obtaining wealth in Pardus is trading. Players buy goods from a planet, starbase or building, then travel to another to sell it in a "buy low sell high" fashion. Many players establish trade routes between certain buildings which they maintain regularly.

Planets and Starbases hold randomly generated missions that replenish at certain points in the day. There are a variety of missions; for instance killing NPCs (non-player-characters), delivering packages, or transporting VIPs. When a mission is completed successfully, the player receives a reward of credits (the in-game money); if the mission was a faction mission, the player will receive an amount of rank increase, or if the mission was a standard (non-faction) mission, the player will receive an amount of "competency" instead. There are also special faction missions available only during times of war.

[edit] Raiding, piracy, bounty hunting and smuggling

A player does not have to be a legal trader, and can earn money through combat or illegal trade. With the proper equipment, a player may raid another player's spacecraft or building, a sometimes quite profitable exercise. Some players take pirating to an extreme and attempt to destroy anyone they can; these pirates often get bountied. A bounty can be placed on any player or building by the system or by other players. If a player kills a bounties player or destroys a bountied building, they will receive the sum of all bounties that were placed on that particular individual or that building.

Smuggling is a risky but often very profitable venture. Illegal commodities may be sold to other players or sold to a planet or starbase with a black market. There is a chance a player will be detected by the authorities when selling to a black market, however, which might result in a bounty if a bribe is unsuccessful.

[edit] Player interaction

An important aspect of Pardus is interaction between players. Most players join a faction and one of the many player-made alliances, which range from just a few members to dozens. Chat channels and forums are available for trading, alliance discussions, and other topics. Players often plan economies together in order to produce maximum profits, or can attack or ambush targets together that they would not be able to defeat alone. ^[14]

[edit] PvP combat

Player versus player (PvP) combat is frequent in Pardus. Like combat with an NPC, PvP combat is turn-based. Players may also set ambushes that are triggered by other players, even if the ambusher is offline. PvP combat is particularly intense during Faction wars; frequently alliances will declare war on each other as well.

[edit] Alliances

There are also player-made alliances in Pardus; many alliances claim a section of space by building a blockade of military outposts. The players and their buildings behind the outposts are then safe from all but the most determined attackers. ^[15]

Alliances come in two versions, Veiled and Disclosed.

• Disclosed

Disclosed alliances cannot accept TSS members. EPS members are only able to join alliances that are disclosed. Disclosed alliances may have a faction alignment, and if so, all members must be of that faction.

• Veiled

Veiled alliances cannot accept EPS members. TSS members are only able to join alliances that are veiled. Veiled alliances may not have a faction alignment, in the same way that TSS members cannot be a member of a faction.

[edit] Premium subscriptions

As of October 1st 2006, Pardus implemented premium subscriptions which, for $14.95 (USD) per quarter, give players access to new features and areas unavailable to non-paying players, plus a premium-only server.^[16] A short premium subscription trial is also offered to long term players.

Premium subscriptions give access to a unique cluster, the Pardus cluster, consisting of 21 sectors. Each sector is owned by one of the factions, providing benefits to players belonging to the owning faction; however the ownership of any of these sectors can change based on player activities. Only one sector in the Pardus cluster remains neutral at all times, the central Pardus sector. ^[17] The Pardus cluster is also home to a range of NPC monsters not found in outside clusters.

Players may get a free premium subscription with the Pardus "referral program". ^[18]

[edit] Awards

Pardus won the Best Free Online RPG award in the 2005 Online Game Awards held by GameOgre.^[19]

[edit] References

[edit] External links

• Official Pardus website
• Pardusian Database
• HTML (online) map of the Pardus universe
• Pardus guide at StrategyWiki