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NEWS
Picaroon is better than ever
18/04/2011
LEAMINGTON SPA, UK Free-to-play MMORTS, Picaroon, gets a spring clean
Spring is in the air and Picaroon's beta is making excellent progress. As with all successful betas, it's an opportunity to see the game with the eyes of the players and fine-tune the experience for beginners and experts alike. The beginner's experience is one that Nice Technology have recently gone to town on.
“We know that documentation is the very last thing that anyone reads,” says Toby Simpson, Producer of Picaroon. “Even with the kitchen on fire, most people would turn to Google before they read the microwave's troubleshooting guide. We wanted something that made tutorials interactive and we came up with 'questorials'. These are organised as a whole bunch of missions that gradually introduce players to the game's features. We've recently added PvE pirate battles as questorials so that those new to the game can experience a sequence of fights to practice and refine their skills.”
The swift spring clean has modified the popular End-Game to allow more Picaroon players to experience the shock and awe of the devastating super ships and super submarines, introducing cool new features such as the ability for players to place markers all over the overview map to ensure that they remember their next targets and their enemy's location.
As spring blends into summer, Nice Technology is working on a number of refinements. These will include the release of a new building called the Technology Centre that introduces an orbital laser cannon satellite, with some tasty new strategies for defending islands and a fantastic new game mode called ‘persistent Picaroon’ - possibly *the* hardest way to play this most challenging PvP MMORTS!
About Picaroon:
Picaroon is a persistent real-time strategy game set on a water world of the future, where empires hold on to what land they can with vast sea battles. Start with one island, gather resources to construct fleets and explore the open oceans to find new territories. Some will be deserted and others occupied by pirates, allies or enemies. Choose your tactics and any specials (virtual cards that give extra defensive and offensive capabilities) that you might have amassed and expand your empire through diplomacy and... other methods! Skirmish Picaroon lasts an hour, Classic Picaroon lasts a couple of weeks, and Persistent Picaroon months or even longer: one game, three great ways to play. Picaroon is presented in full 3D and runs on Windows XP, Vista and Windows 7 and is in open beta now.
Corporate website: www.nicetech.co.uk
Picaroon: www.picaroonthegame.com
Blog: http://www.picaroonthegame.com/blog
Tronji World: http://www.tronji.com
Time of Defiance: http://www.nicelycrafted.com
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About Blitz 1UP:
The Blitz 1UP initiative was launched in 2008 as an outlet for small, independent teams to bring their titles - finished and unfinished - to market on XBLA, PSN, PC, WiiWare, iPhone Flash and Mac. The scheme offers tailor-made packages to indie developers including PR, QA and access to its established distribution channels. The initiative provides a wide range of services, from design and production advice through to assistance with finding distribution and publishing partners. Blitz1UP.com
About Blitz Games Studios:
Currently celebrating its 20th anniversary, Blitz Games Studios is based in Leamington Spa and was founded by industry veterans Philip and Andrew Oliver. It now has more than 220 staff and its six divisions encompass mature titles (Volatile Games), Serious Games (TruSim), family titles (Blitz Games), licensable middleware (BlitzTech), downloadable games (Blitz Arcade) and its education division (Blitz Academy). www.BlitzGamesStudios.com
About Nice Technology:
Nice Technology develops and self publishes multiplayer online games and virtual worlds using its proprietary game's engine, AliceServer. The development team's first game Time of Defiance was released to the public back in the summer of 2002. Since then Nice Technology has produced a children's game for the BBC based on a popular TV show called Tronji. The studio is currently working on Picaroon, its new RTS game. www.nicetech.co.uk/
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