Age of Ocean and Captains of Darktide Announced

[Thagarr]

[imgleft]http://lh6.ggpht.com/_cQOyQjTP3GY/SzdzZcJpthI/AAAAAAAAAIU/lTv6nE8qBxo/pa-logo.gif[/imgleft]Sorry I haven't been keeping the news as up to date as usual mates, unfortunately my real job has decided they are going to pound me into submission by making me work as much overtime as possible! Just because they give me a pay check every week, they think I should have to earn it ...geeze the nerve of some people! But I refuse to give in!

Over at MPOGD (MultiPlayer Online Games Directory), they have a couple of previews of some upcoming MMOG browser based games. The first is called Age of Ocean by OPI Games, this new game will feature a huge open game world based on the 15th century, with unique features including massive trading system, epic exploration system, real player economy, huge sea battles, and over 280 cities you can explore and trade with!

With historic content and extensive features, Age of Ocean is one of the most anticipated browser game of 2010. Age of Ocean will provide players a magnificent seafaring adventure, a chance to conquer the world and even rewrite the history! In Age of Ocean, you can feel the waves as they crash against your ship, you can smell the smoke from the cannons as you go broadsides with your foes, and you are the commander fighting for your country. You can recruit sailors, trade with merchants, and battle pirates and other players. Go in search of new lands and the treasures all based on real history. The world is out there for taking. Historic browser game fans can find more information on the official website: http://ao.hithere.com/.

Features:

* Historic Web-based strategy/simulation game
* Multi-player, compete against thousands of people from around the world
* Huge game world; an entire world to explore and conquer
* Unique Massive trading system and real player economy
* Huge sea battle scenes
* Completely browser-based, no downloads required
* Playable via Internet Explorer, Firefox and Opera
* Hundreds of rewarding quests.

You can read the full preview HERE!

The second one appears to be an expansion for the browser based MMOG Saga, by Silverlode Interactive, called Captains of Darktide. This one has a few more mythical elements to it, as Saga takes place a fantasy setting.

Saga's Captains of Darktide is being made using the Unity 3D engine, which means a gorgeous 3D world in a browser playable on both PC and Mac. Check out the screenshots at the bottom. I am expecting a lot of very surprised looks when I exit full screen mode and people realize what they just saw was a browser game. There are no downsides unless your boss catches you playing at work.

We are creating one huge seamless world where players take control of a ship in the SAGA fantasy universe complete with cannon decks bellow and dragon summoning wizards up top. Unlike the 2 large AAA Pirate titles we are going to focus on the ship. This means even though your captain will have his own skill tree, and be able to choose from among various classes, all the action takes place at sea.

At release we are aiming to have the following features

* A huge seamless world where tens of thousands of captains may adventure together.
* Over 200 troop types that may be used to crew your ships ranging from dragon summoning wizards to Orc snipers.
* Hundreds of cannon types.
* Over 1000 ship upgrades
* A crafting system that may be used to build cannons or the top level ships
* 3 talent trees (Defender, Commander, Destroyer)
* Hundreds of ships, with ship types for each of the above Captain trees, each with its own unique strengths.
* Cooperative questing in groups
* Epic Boss level encounters
* Player trading
* Whatever else we can fit in from the wish list

You can read that full preview and check out a few screen shots HERE!