Ladyluck strikes back with online shooter
Written by: Alexander Villafania
Publication: Hackenslash
Date published: 2007
DESPITE a disappointing turnout of its first game, TerraWars: New York Invasion, Filipino video game development company Ladyluck is back on its feet and is already on its way to finishing a second game, based on the original story material from their first game.
This time, TerraWars Online, incidentally called TWO, will be bigger, more ambitious and is a total revamp of TerraWars: NY Invasion. Ladyluck has made the game a full 3D multiplayer online role playing game and it is expected to be available not just for PCs but on the new game console platforms Microsoft Xbox 360, Sony PlayStation 3 and Nintendo Wii.
TWO will primarily be a first person shooting game just like the first TerraWars but will involve leveling up player characters as well as weapons and items. The game will also be mission-based and will involve cooperative play with several other online players.
The gaming world in TWO has also been hugely expanded from the first game, spanning over 50 maps and hundreds of human and alien weapons and items that can be upgraded.
It is still set in a post-apocalyptic world where humans have to fight alien invaders to survive.
In an interview with hackenslash.net, Ladyluck founder and president Luis Mañalac said TWO is modeled using the F.E.A.R. (First Encounter Assault Recon) engine, which is based on a new and powerful Lithtech game engine codenamed Jupiter Extended from developer Monolith.
TerraWars: New York Invasion used an older Lithtech game engine simply called Jupiter.
He said there would also be full 3D animation cutscenes explaining the origins of the aliens.
Likewise, TWO is available in English, Russian, German, French Chinese and Korean.
Mañalac said they hope to launch the game on the PC by the end of the year. They are looking to have the launch of the console versions by 2008.
However, Mañalac said the TWO build has to be ported by a third-party company for the other consoles.
Mañalac said they are in talks with several possible publishers for the game, unlike in TerraWars: New York Invasion where Ladyluck also did its own marketing and promotions arm.
Mañalac also admitted that their first foray into the video game business was not successful and said it was "a learning experience" for Ladyluck.
"But from there, we learned a lot about the development business and we’ve created the core of the production who will work on the new game," Mañalac said.
Likewise, he also noted it was a good move on the part of the company not to sell its intellectual property as it encouraged the company to improve on the material instead of creating a new one from scratch.
"What we really need to do is to create more content and just use existing technologies to develop games. That way we can focus on actually creating quality games and not on tediously doing the software from the ground up," Mañalac said.
This time, TerraWars Online, incidentally called TWO, will be bigger, more ambitious and is a total revamp of TerraWars: NY Invasion. Ladyluck has made the game a full 3D multiplayer online role playing game and it is expected to be available not just for PCs but on the new game console platforms Microsoft Xbox 360, Sony PlayStation 3 and Nintendo Wii.
TWO will primarily be a first person shooting game just like the first TerraWars but will involve leveling up player characters as well as weapons and items. The game will also be mission-based and will involve cooperative play with several other online players.
The gaming world in TWO has also been hugely expanded from the first game, spanning over 50 maps and hundreds of human and alien weapons and items that can be upgraded.
It is still set in a post-apocalyptic world where humans have to fight alien invaders to survive.
In an interview with hackenslash.net, Ladyluck founder and president Luis Mañalac said TWO is modeled using the F.E.A.R. (First Encounter Assault Recon) engine, which is based on a new and powerful Lithtech game engine codenamed Jupiter Extended from developer Monolith.
TerraWars: New York Invasion used an older Lithtech game engine simply called Jupiter.
He said there would also be full 3D animation cutscenes explaining the origins of the aliens.
Likewise, TWO is available in English, Russian, German, French Chinese and Korean.
Mañalac said they hope to launch the game on the PC by the end of the year. They are looking to have the launch of the console versions by 2008.
However, Mañalac said the TWO build has to be ported by a third-party company for the other consoles.
Mañalac said they are in talks with several possible publishers for the game, unlike in TerraWars: New York Invasion where Ladyluck also did its own marketing and promotions arm.
Mañalac also admitted that their first foray into the video game business was not successful and said it was "a learning experience" for Ladyluck.
"But from there, we learned a lot about the development business and we’ve created the core of the production who will work on the new game," Mañalac said.
Likewise, he also noted it was a good move on the part of the company not to sell its intellectual property as it encouraged the company to improve on the material instead of creating a new one from scratch.
"What we really need to do is to create more content and just use existing technologies to develop games. That way we can focus on actually creating quality games and not on tediously doing the software from the ground up," Mañalac said.