DarkOrbit

DarkOrbit
Developer(s)	Bigpoint
Publisher(s)	Bigpoint
Platform(s)	Web browser
Genre(s)	MMOG
Mode(s)	Multiplayer

DarkOrbit is a massively multiplayer online game developed by Bigpoint Games. The game is set in outer space, where players control a spaceship to battle against non-player characters and other players. It is a two-dimensional Flash game with around 65 million registered users, including several millions of active ones.

History

DarkOrbit was released on December 10, 2006.

Gameplay

At the start of the game, the player chooses between three companies: Venus Resources Unlimited (VRU), Earth Industries Corporation (EIC), and Mars Mining Operations (MMO). Players are given a short tutorial before being teleported to the home map. The object of the game is to gain wealth and power both individually and for the company.

Rank

There are two different types or rank.

Top User Points

This is a mathematical formula that will divide your EP by 1,000 and Honor by 100 which will equal your top user points. Top user points show up in the hall of fame.

Rank Points

Rank points are also based on a mathematical formula that is figured by a variety of factors, such as experience, level, honor, quests finished, Ships Points destroyed, Alien Points destroyed, and your ship type. There are also factors that will reduce your rank points such as, times destroyed, own company kills, radiation zone destructions, and phoenix ships destroyed. Rank Points do not show up in the hall of fame.

Economy

DarkOrbit uses two types of currencies: credits and uridium. Uridium is more valuable and harder to obtain. Some types of equipment and ammunition can be purchased using credits, but the most elite items can only be bought with uridium. However, for some of those elite items, there is an option to bid using credits. This auction system, in which players will not be refunded credits if they lose, is used to control inflation of credits. Many new items are not offered in trade. The P.E.T. 10 is a highly priced drone that increases with costs as the player levels it up. There are also several ship designs and ammo types that are never auctioned in game.

Some players use a bot to acquire uridium from bonus boxes. DarkOrbit has put 'scripts' into the game to catch the players using this and it has had some effect at stemming the tide.

Combat

DarkOrbit utilizes a real-time combat system. In combat, a variety of weapons can be used to destroy aliens and other players. These include laser cannons, laser ammunition, rockets, rocket launchers, and mines. Players need to click on their target to lock on before they can begin shooting. Successfully destroying an enemy will result in a "cargo box" containing ore being dropped that the player can take. If the destroyed ship is a player, it will cost 500 uridium to repair the ship, although the ship started with in the game is free to repair. Some people use scripts and hacks in the game to gain unfair advantages such as autolocks and damage hacks.

Players start of the game with a Phoenix, a free but easily destroyed ship. As the player advances in the game, he/she can buy better ships. There are a total of ten different ships that can be bought, with the Goliath and the Vengeance typically being regarded as the best ships. Ships can be equipped with a variety of items, including shield generators, speed engines, laser cannons, rocket launchers, ammunition, and many other accessories.

Clans

Players can join a clan if they pay 50,000 credits. Benefits of joining a clan include help from clan mates and clan payouts in the form of credits. However, most clans have a clan tax (between 1% and 5%) that is collected into the clans treasury daily. Clans can help players level up, gain credits and compete against other rivals. In addition, a player can found a clan for 300,000 credits.

Skylab

The Skylab is a system is used to produce and refine ores, such as Promentium, Endurium, and Terbium. These basic ores can be refined to Prometid and Duranium, which when combined with Xenomit can make Promerium. There is also a crystal named Seprom that can only be produced in the skylab by further refining promerium. Seprom cannot be sold but the ore can give weapons and shields a great power boost. These ores can then be sent to the player's ship and either sold for credits or equipped to enhance the ship. < collect ref name=skylab>"Skylab". DarkOrbit Help. Bigpoint. Retrieved 23 June 2011.</ref>

Darkorbit Skylab

Pilot Bio

The Pilot Bio is a relatively recent addition to DarkOrbit. Each pilot point can be used to acquire certain abilities that help the player in battle or other game functions. A player can have up to fifty pilot points in their bio. When certain skills are maxed out, they generate special effects, such as brighter lasers, rocket trails, etc.

Drone Formations

Drone formations are special formations that will put your drones in different positions on the map. The formations give you different bonuses but will also give a drawback when it is in use. Drone formations have 2 credit designs each costing 1,000,000 credits. There are also many Uridium designs that will cost 75,000 or 100,000 Uridium.

Special Events

DarkOrbit has special events from time to time that can give players special rewards.

Jackpot Battle

The Jackpot battle is an event on the second Sunday of every month, in which all players who sign up fight each other until only one ship is left surviving. The winning player will receive real cash (up to £10,000 or 10,000 worth of the local currency e.g. $10,000 for the USA or €10,000 for the Global Europe or local country servers) from DarkOrbit, based on how many "Jackpot dollars" they had. Jackpot dollars can be found in bonus boxes that are scattered across space.

Team Death Match

The Team Death Match is an event that in which ten ships from one company work together to kill ten ships from an enemy company. The winning team receives rewards at the end and is taken to the next level. This keeps on continuing until you die (or your team loses)

Space Ball

Space Ball is an event that takes place in the map 4-4, with the objective of scoring goals by shooting an NPC ball to your x-5 portal. After a goal has been scored cargo boxes are released around the portal containing uridium and ammunition. The winning company wins prizes for 24 hours the next day such as x%EP, honor, bonus box rewards, and cargo selling price.

Invasion

A event that is taken place in different maps, depending on your level. This event is made up of waves, each wave harder to pass than the one before. This event lets you rack up millions of credits and thousands of uridium. Repairs are free as long as you die "in" the invasion map.

For levels 5-9 an invasion gate appears in the middle of x-1, in x-3 a gate appears for all those between levels 10-14 and in x-5 all players at levels 15 and above have to enter invasion here. The gate in x-1 typically contains NPCs that are easier to kill and they get harder as you move to the higher gates. You are unable to log out when in the invasion gate, the only way out is if your ship is destroyed, or you level beyond the parameters of the gate.

Capture The Beacon

Capture The Beacon, like the traditional game capture the flag, is an event where all 3 companies have beacons in their x-2 maps which must be protected by the defending company, and captured by the attacking company, and taken back to their own x-2 map. Games are 1 hour long, company with most points gets a 1 hour prize such as x% more experience, honor, bonus box rewards, etc.

Scoremageddon

Players fight in PvP battles to gain points. You gain more points based on your combo, which rises as you kill other enemy players. The top 50 in points at the end will win various prizes such as UCB-100, PLD-8, Special Mines, and even Uridium. You lose a life every time you die from an original total of 5. Once all of your lives are depleted you are eliminated and can no longer earn more points (you are also not worth any for enemy players that destroy you).

Community

The official DarkOrbit forums are powered by vBulletin. The forums provide a place for DarkOrbit to announce updates and events as well as a place for players to ask questions, discuss the game, and give suggestions. In addition, DarkOrbit's support can be contacted via email by players wishing to report a bug or make a complaint in most cases the tech support of darkorbit is very bad the support does not help anyone who loose their accounts when they have a bug in which a person can steal accounts without an email verification. The Support treats a customer who has spent over 4000$ on the game as a 2-year old kid. In another case in which some players were banned saying that they were using a bot some even sent proof that they were not using any kind of bot for the game they say their scripts are 100% accurate when it's not a lot of players have complained that their accounts were handed over an infraction wrongly but the support say that their scripts are 100% accurate a lot of players have quit due to this.

Reception

Joystiq called it an "insane shooter" with a mix of Asteroids and EVE Online.

See also

• Bigpoint Games

References

• "Bigpoint's DarkOrbit Now Available on Cell Phones - Wireless News at IGN". IGN. October 22, 2009.
• "Press Releases - Bigpoint celebrates DarkOrbit's 4th Anniversary". Gamasutra. 2010-12-14.
• "WeMade Announces DarkOrbit, Seafight And Farmerama Now Live - PC News at IGN". IGN. October 25, 2010.

External links

• DarkOrbit
• DarkOrbit Help
• DarkOrbit Forums
• Game DarkOrbit description of the Russian
• Darkorbit Epin