Hi-Rez Studios: Global Agenda

The MMO arena is filled with different games covering a multitude of scenarios. It seems difficult for someone to have an original idea that will grab the attention of gamers beyond the familiar. Hi-Rez Studios’ Global Agenda may be that game.

Here is part two of GotGame’s Hi-Rez Studio interviews. If you missed the studio profile, go and read that first. This time we delve into the title that Hi-Rez is developing and what it is all about with Associate Producer and PR Specialist Michal Adam.

How was the title introduced?

Hi-Rez Studios announced Global Agenda in a press release in early March 2007. The announcement highlighted development using Unreal® Engine 3 and elaborated on our 22nd century setting of espionage and advanced technology, also referred to as Spy-Fi. We offer players fast-paced combat, RPG style character progression, cooperative PvE missions, and competitive play between player-created agencies.

How long has the title been in development?

Hi-Rez Studios was established in 2005 and Global Agenda is our debut title. The studio consists of veteran developers with experience across the MMO, FPS, and RTS genres, along with some very talented industry newcomers. We have been in development for the past four years and we play the game every single day to make sure it remains fun for our dev team as well as the external testing volunteers we invite into our studio regularly.

Why a MMO?

Our dev team enjoys the action combat feel of modern multiplayer shooters, but also wanted very distinct classes, a rich RPG character advancement system, and most importantly, an immersive world where player-created groups strategize and scheme against one another on a massive scale.

Within Global Agenda, your strike team accepts targeted missions and your performance within those missions affects both the world and your group’s standing in the world. Only an MMO can provide the persistent player-driven conflict, strategy, politics and intrigue at the scale we envision for Global Agenda. Our battles are instanced but the war is persistent and massive

When was Unreal 3 decided on?

This was one of our very early decisions. Unreal 3 offers a wide range of tools to deliver strong performance without sacrificing aesthetics. To complement Unreal 3, we spent the next couple years developing a sophisticated database and networking platform which supports our character skill advancement, gear acquisition, agency management, and other MMO persistent world aspects of Global Agenda.

Are there any other engines working in conjunction with Unreal 3? Like Havok?

Unreal 3 has a lot built in, including its own physics, but we do use SpeedTree for some of our environments.

What gaming specs are needed for good action/frame rates?

Users will be able to customize in-game video settings to accommodate a wide range of hardware configurations. In general, we expect the game to run very well on PCs that play other Unreal 3 engine based games.

Describe the game

In the wake of severe global disaster, the political face of 22nd century earth has changed and player-created factions scheme against each other for power. Traditional full-scale wars a thing of the past, factions must rely on covert agencies, teams of elite special operatives able to seize and defend key facilities. The future of humanity is their battleground, where knowledge is power, technology is a race, and everyone has an agenda.

The players control the world of Global Agenda, forging alliances with their peers and executing lightning strikes against their enemies. They determine which factions to aid and which to oppose, while the only thing that stands in their way is other agencies. Here’s a brief of the major features we will have in Beta:

Develop your agent – Create, extensively customize, and improve your agent character over the course of your career, complimenting your FPS skills with RPG-style progression and high-tech gear.

Join with other agents – Engage in cooperative PvE missions to develop and refine your individual and team tactics

Advance your agency – Join a player-created agency, compete in technology races for advanced equipment, and capture critical locations to increase your influence in the world.

Compete in fast-paced PvP combat – Work with your allies to raid or capture enemy controlled facilities during objective-based missions.

Equip yourself - from a powerful array of weapons, armor, and strategic devices like triggered explosives, deployable turrets, stealth suits, holographic decoys, and remote control robots.

Experience a dynamic, player-driven world – Agency leaders navigate through a global conflict of other player-run groups, striving to reach their goals first. Territory, resources, technology, and influence are all valuable commodities, with agencies engaging in politics, intrigue, and outright deception to control them.

Is it going to be player controlled or are there going to be admins?

For customer support, we will have official Admins/Game Masters.
In terms of in-game groups for players to join, the Agencies within Global Agenda are player-created and player-run, and there are also NPC factions to work for and against.

How has the alpha testing been going?

As I mentioned, we’ve actually been testing internally each day since the first year of the project. This summer we broadened our player base to allow alpha testers to play from home. We now have an active alpha testing group of around 1,000 members. The community is super passionate about the game and working closely with our development team to make it successful.

Is there an approximate date for the beta to begin?

Sign-ups for closed-beta have already begun and we’ve been very pleased with the enthusiastic response! It seems like there are plenty of gamers hungry for fast-paced, action combat but within a persistent world setting. People can pre-register at www.globalagendagame.com. We will launch the closed-beta program this spring and gradually open it up to more applicants as we approach release by the end of the year.

Approximate release date of final product?

Late 2009.

Any specific things you want to highlight about Global Agenda?

If your readers are interested in a different kind of MMO I really encourage them to visit our website and check out our gameplay trailer. Within Global Agenda we have tried to combine some of the most compelling elements of the FPS, RPG, and RTS genres into a single dynamic, competitive, immersive online world. Image a massively multiplayer board-game of world domination, but where each conflict is resolved not by die-rolling but via action-packed mission instances with your persistent special agent character working in cooperation with other agents.

We find this blend to be a lot of fun and look forward to seeing others in game soon!

It looks like there’s something special behind Global Agenda. The high standards that Hi-Rez Studios has set for themselves appear to push the title past the independent developer designation into a full-fledged studio. With Global Agenda, the first title releasing from Hi-Rez, the gaming public will either be positively surprised and just see another MMO release. Here’s hoping for the former. More information can be found at Hi-Rez Studios.

Thank you to everyone at Hi-Rez Studios and Michal Adam for talking with us about their new title.