Ninjas vs. Pirates: It

Wow there is so much to do and not enough hours in the day. We are very excited about the response we have received; the game website has been getting hammered. We can not believe some of the sites we are getting referrals from, it just goes to show how big internet pop-culture is.

Beta 1 is just around the corner and we have been preparing for it all week. I am going to break down what we will be doing over the next couple of weeks to prepare for beta. Currently we have approximately 40 or so people signed up for this closed beta, and I can not wait to get their reactions/opinions on the game. We will not deviate from the original scope of the project. If there are features or enhancements we can do that does not cause scope creep, they will probably go in.

Back-end Servers

Our master servers are up and running. This has been very important to DarkCombat Entertainment because if there is an issue and people can not play, we want it to be our responsibility. We are not worried about Garage Games providing this service, but we feel that since this is our game we should be taking ownership of every aspect of it.

Last night IRC was installed, configured, and is running. These IRC servers are for DarkCombat Entertainment game lobbies, and will not be available for public use. Again the decision was made to take ownership of all aspect of the game experience. The following is the art used for the lobby and a beta mock up, please ignore the buttons as they are in the process of being changed:





Lastly we have started complete revamping the game specific website. In my opinion the current website looks horrible, it has the functionality we want but it looks like a generic site made by non-professionals. Some of the features the new site will have:

-Kill counter to show who is greater, Ninjas or Pirates. The host games will send kill data to a DB and the daily results will be displayed on the home page. Of course there will be a graphic so player can see at a glance who truly is greater: Ninjas > Pirates or Pirates > Ninjas

-IRC client that ties in directly to the game so those who are stuck at work unable to play, can chat with their friends.

-Plus all the standard stuff like forums, FAQs, galleries, downloads, and media.

Game
On Sunday we will be performing a code freeze in preparation for packaging the game for beta 1. About a week and a half later, we will be doing an art freeze. Then we will package the game and open up beta.

Mac and Linux versions of the game are underway. We hope these versions will be ready by beta 2. We do plan on releasing Ninjas vs. Pirates on PC, Mac, and Linux...stay tuned for more info on that.

Other Stuff
We are in the final stages of the Ninjas vs. Pirates merchandising agreements. T-shirts displaying your team preference will be available soon.

If anybody would like to help on the project, please e-mail me. We do not have anymore paid positions available, but you are welcome to help. I would like to take the time out to thank everybody involved in the project, your hard work and persistence is about to be shown through Ninjas vs. Pirates.

Contact
Game Website: ninjasvspirates.darkcombat.net
Company Website: www.darkcombat.net
E-mail: info@darkcombat.net