CIS 487 Game Evaluation

1. CIS 487 Game Evaluation By Joe Haskins

2. An MMORPG created & published by Jagex Ltd. • Game engine written in Java • Played completely within a web browser • Most popular free MMORPG in the world according to Guinness.

3. System Requirements • For low detail mode: • 500 MHz CPU • 128 Mb of RAM • For high detail mode: • 1.5 GHz CPU • 256 Mb of Ram • GeForce 3 or equivalent

4. Price • Free, feature limited version available • Full version starts at $5.95/month • Removes ads and enables fullscreen mode • Includes new skills, new areas, better equipment, etc.

5. Overview • Set in a fantasy world with a variety of races to interact with. • Players can choose to engage in combat or to focus on training skills. • Depending on their skills, players can complete various quests that advance storylines or reward them with unique new items. • A variety of skill and combat based mini games are available.

6. Storyline • No overarching storyline and very little back-story. • Most of the early history was lost during a massive war. • Through various quests, players can glean bits of information about the past. • Quests also advance storylines for various areas and characters.

7. User Interface • Simple, relatively uncluttered Interface • Icons in the bottom-right corner are used to access various menus and view skill levels. • Important info (such as hitpoints remaining) is always displayed in the top-right corner near the mini map. • Criticisms: • Skill level display does not display all skills at once, requires scrolling to view the bottom row. • Menu tooltips are displayed in upper left corner instead of near the mouse cursor.

8. User Interface

9. Gameplay • All movement and actions are performed with the mouse. • Arrow keys can be used to change perspective • Death: • When a player dies, he respawns in a specific location with only his 3 most valuable items. • Players can purchase various gravestones which appear at the location of their death. Gravestones allow the player a certain amount of time (up to 5 minutes) to return and reclaim any lost items.

10. Gameplay balance • Melee fighters • Can easily kill mages and archers if they are close enough. • Metal plate armor protects them from arrows but amplifies damaging magical spells. • Archers • Capable of striking from a distance. • Relatively ineffective against melee fighters, highly effective against mages. • Armor offers a small amount of magic resistance.

11. Gameplay balance • Mages • Armor can be easily penetrated by arrows or melee weapons. • Able to use spells to hold others out of melee range (but not out of arrow range).

12. Scoring • Combat level • A measurement your fighting ability compared to other players or NPCs. • Ranges from 3 to 138. • Based on 8 stats that directly or indirectly affect combat. • Total level • Summation of the player’s level in every skill. • Not visible to other players and has no real use.

13. Artwork • 3d models are relatively simple . • Low detail mode uses simple textures. • High detail mode has complex textures, shadows, transparency, dynamic lighting, etc.

14. Sound and Music • Contains over 500 instrumental music tracks • New music tracks are unlocked by visiting new areas or completing certain quests. • Sound effects are reasonable quality, especially considering size limitations. • Contains countess ambient sounds whose volume varies based on the player’s distance from their source.

15. Special Features • Random events • Creatures may appear and attack players when performing a certain action (ie chopping down a tree). • NPCs may teleport a player to a different location to complete a task and keep them there until it’s done. • Other NPCs may appear and ask you to talk to them, rewarding you if you do and teleporting you to random location if you don’t.

16. Manual • A comprehensive, searchable manual is available on the website. • When not in fullscreen mode, a search box is displayed above the game applet. Bugs • No known gameplay bugs exist at this time. • Graphical bugs occasionally arise when new items are introduced, but are typically fixed in a timely manner.

17. What's Good? • Balanced gameplay • Can be played from almost anywhere. • Engaging storylines leave players eager for the next quest in a series to be released. • New content every month for paying members.

18. What's bad? • Graphics are limited due to the browser-base nature of the game. • Training certain skills can require hours of respective work. • Some quest storylines have been neglected for years. One of the most popular quest chains, “Plague City”, was last updated in October, 2005.

19. How does it compare? • Most modern MMORPGs, such as World of Warcraft, have far superior graphics. • Subscription price is significantly cheaper that similar games. • Can be played from nearly any computer with internet access. • System requirements are significantly lower than similar games. • Does not require permission to install software on the computer.

20. Audience • RuneScape is suitable for people of all ages. • Inappropriate words are automatically filtered in chat. • Players who use offensive language are subject to banning if caught. Design Mistakes • None known.

21. Overall Strengths • Can be played on nearly any computer with internet access. • Free to play the basic version for as long as you want. • Subscription price is relatively cheap.

22. Overall Weaknesses • Potential players may be discouraged by the quality of the graphics. • Mouse based navigation may be strange for gamers accustomed to using the keyboard to move.

23. Is it worth purchasing? • $5.95/month grants access to many more quests, skills, and areas to explore. • Relatively pointless if you just started playing. • Well worth it once you’ve played the free version for a while.

24. Improvements? • Allow navigation using the keyboard. • Add new ways to train repetitive skills. • Avoid neglecting popular storylines.