Infantry (computer game)

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Screenshot (from Mechanized Skirmish) of Infantry Online.

Infantry Online is a two-dimensional, isometric, multiplayer, combat, computer game utilizing complex soldier, ground vehicle and space-ship models on typically complex terrains. Players may choose from a list of game zones to enter, each zone having a unique style of gameplay and many offering a wide diversity of weapons, player classes and objectives.

1 History
2 Game setting
3 Development staff
4 Game zones
5 External links

[edit] History

Sometime in the late 1990s, now-defunct Virgin Interactive Entertainment (VIE) began to develop a game called Sniper; later renamed SubSpace. Some of the developers of SubSpace bonded together to form Harmless Games LLC. They developed a new game engine; the project was named Infantry.

The game was developed, gained a cultlike popularity and was picked up by Brainscan Development Corporation, also known as Brainscan Interactive, as publisher. GameFan, the parent company of Brainscan Interactive, went bankrupt and did not pay its employees for a period of several months. Rod (Rodvik) Humble, the lead designer of Infantry, was offered a job with Sony Online Entertainment (SOE) and left Harmless Games. Larry J. Cordner (LJC) also found another job, but stayed with the development team until shortly after Harmless Games was bought by SOE. Harmless Games, and its sole game, Infantry, was bought by SOE from Brainscan Interactive for an undisclosed sum. The two remaining developers, Jeff Petersen (programmer) and Jerimy Weeks (artist and zone designer), were hired by SOE to continue development of the game. Some time later, SOE had them develop Cosmic Rift (CR), an offshoot of Infantry meant to compete with the still popular SubSpace. CR had gained a small portion of Infantry's and SubSpace's communities, but its population still paled in comparison. In October 2001, Petersen was transferred to EverQuest 2 development and Weeks later was laid off. Game development stagnated.

In May 2002, SOE rehired Weeks and introduced a monthly $6.95 pay-to-play system for SOE's three small action games: Infantry, CR and Tanarus, however, both Infantry and Cosmic Rift remain free to play with limitations. Infantry's and CR's populations have since declined drastically from daily highs of thousands at a time to a mere hundred or fewer players. In October 2005, Weeks was laid off again and a new developer was put to the task. Hope for the game's future was questionable, as the new developer was Joe Nelson, whose only prior experience with Infantry involved customer service duties, who held the position for only a few months. As of May 2006 there are three SOE employees delegated either full or part time to the game: Bill Corning, Jose Araiza and recently re-hired developer Jerimy Weeks. Since the pay-to-play system, private, free servers have appeared simultaneously with the official server though mainly with new custom zones. Currently, SOE Infantry has very little code support, and there are constantly hacks being released.

[edit] Game setting

The time is set several centuries ahead of the present. There is a war between the government (The Collective) and the various rebelling moon colonies of the outer solar system, notably the Titan colony. The Collective is a pure democracy; every single citizen has a voting unit in which they vote on every issue, although more often only on the issues that concern them. The rebels are mainly located in the outer colonies of the solar system and are a vast minority compared to the large populations on Earth and Mars. The rebels feel their colonies are being exploited for resources and labor due to the fact that they have little voice on what is decided. The citizens of the larger populations cannot understand why people would rebel from a system where everyone has a say and thus the war. Titan has the largest population of the outer rim colonies and therefore the major battles are between them and the Collective army. However, many colonies provide militia and able bodies to the cause of groups such as the European mercenaries. Due to the chaos, many privateers have emerged, such as the Morgan Raiders who will throw in with anyone providing they are paid, even though they have no love for any faction.

[edit] Development staff

Lead Programmer: Formerly Jeff Petersen (aka. Bagman); Formerly Scott Mitchell
Lead Designer: Formerly Rod Humble (aka. Rodvik)
Lead Designer/Artist: Michael Collins (aka. Money)
Lead Artist: Formerly Juan Sanchez (aka. Tswift)
Tools Programmer: Formerly Larry J. Cordner (aka. ljc)
Gameplay Adviser: Corey Doyle (aka. Sea Otter)
Brainscan Producer: Formerly Nick Fisher (aka. Trixter)
SOE Producer: Formerly Rob Hill (aka. Qombat)
SOE Station Pass CSR: Formerly Paul Williams (aka. soePWilliams/Soepy); Formerly Joe Nelson (aka. No~0ne/SoeJoe)
SOE Station Pass Technical Moderator: Bill Corning (aka. Revenant)

[edit] Game zones

Note: Zones from both official and third party servers are included. Rarely will all of these will be online simultaneously.

Capture the Flag - Fast-paced basing action, the most popular zone. Various maps exist, including a private-team Extreme form. Has multiple weapons for players to purchase, allowing player customization.

Combined Arms - A fairly new player-made zone that combines elements of 'CTF', 'RPG' and 'Skirmish', with both chaos and base-ing gameplay. The list of weaponry is exhaustive and mostly original to the zone.

RPG - Popular role-playing zone. Based off of a past-time zone favorite, WZA (War Zone Alpha).

Bug Hunt - Marine vs. the Skrall. The Collective Marines attempt to extract scientific research from a small research facility on a moon inhabited by the Skrall, a hostile alien race.

Skirmish - Massive team vs. team fighting. Several variants exist. Some include tanks and other vehicles. Most employ static flags for territory holding. Features more realistic settings and game physics.

Gravball - Sport zone. Players pilot hoverbikes on a large map with various obstacles, attempting to shoot the ball over their own goal square while avoiding opponents' weapons.

HardCorps - An almost realistic version of war, featuring incredibly fast and invisible projectiles, like you would expect on a real battlefield. Employs maps, and requires military/squad tactics to undertake victory.

Boom Ball X - Sport zone. Players play on a small, hockey-like arena and are restricted to either to aft, mid or fore sections of the field.

Soccer Brawl - Sport zone. Eleven-a-Side razzle-dazzle soccer where players are allowed to body check one another.

Ambush - Fast-paced action. Players use jetpacks or hoverboards to fly around collecting flags and blowing up other players.

Team Deathmatch - Fast-paced action. Players use multitudes of weapons against each other in tight corridors.

TankODrome - Arcade-style play. Players drive tanks, launch projectiles at other players and computer turrets to collect tokens. Tokens are used to buy vehicle upgrades.

Chambert's Moon - A classic, King-of-the-Hill slower paced zone with aliens, psionics and vehicles. Uses a drastically different item set.

War Zone Alpha - The predecessor of RPG/Eol, WZA is a popular pure chaos zone that features different classes, vehicles, weapons and a less structured experience buildup system.