Welcome to the Solar System of 2063!

In 1997, the asteroid XF11 was discovered and found to be on a collision course for Earth, impacting in 2028. The major nations of Earth joined together in the Exodus Project. Its mission: to establish orbital habitats around Jupiter, Mars, Venus, Mercury, and a major asteroid to save a remnant of human culture and technology. After a 20-year crash program, the habitats were launched and sent to their new homes. The people of Earth huddled together to await the end. In 2028, asteroid XF11 missed the Earth by 200,000 km.

In spite of the near-disaster, Earth slowly began to lose interest in space and the men and women it had sent there. The habitats were left to their own resources. The Solar Nations were born.

The year is 2063. A resource-starved Earth has returned to space in search of new raw materials for its teeming billions. But Earth has found that the Solar System is not the place it left decades ago. The technology and culture of the Solar Nations have not only survived, but they have thrived, with achievements far beyond those of the home planet. Old enemies, new allies, new discoveries, and old suspicions dominate the relations of the people of the new Solar System.

Thus begins my foray into the design of massively multiplayer online roleplaying games. Exodus Project Online is based on a series of science fiction novels that I've been working on for some time. As such, the core concepts of EPO have been in existence for several years. I first became involved with MMORPG's in 2000 with the release of Anarchy Online and have played (and in most cases beta-tested) just about every MMORPG that has been released since.

As I'm writing, I habitually map out all of the locations that appear in the story, as well as create 3D renderings (using Poser) of the major characters. I find that this helps me to better visualize the people and places who are involved in the tale. It occurred to me that the Exodus Project background was well-suited for an MMORPG, one that could be different from those that have come before. Furthermore, having mapped out the various locations, I would have a head start in creating the game world. Also, having a game, particularly an MMORPG, based on the novels is an excellent marketing device -- readers can actually live in the world of the novels.

Finally, as an avid and long-time gamer myself (the astute reader will notice that the character creation system borrows heavily from Traveller), I have some very definite ideas about what game systems make for the best MMORPG. The Torque Game Engine Advanced finally gives gamers like me the chance to bring those ideas into reality.

Here's my philosophy for the game:

- An MMORPG should be immersive

There is a significant segment of the gaming population that wants to totally immerse themselves in the world of the game. In effect, they want to live in the game world, taking on the role of a citizen in that world. Fundamentally, this is the same reason we read novels. For a few hours, we project ourselves into the world of the story and actually live there. MMORPG's are the logical evolution of the novel form: We are not only able to project ourselves (in the form of an avatar) into the novel's world, we are also able to interact with other citizens of that world.


- The "RPG" in "MMORPG" stands for "role-playing game"

A natural outgrowth of the above philosophical point is that an MMORPG of the type envisioned here should be a role-playing game. Many, if not most, of the MMORPGs on the market are RPG's only in the very loosest sense. For the most part,while you can roleplay in games such as World of Warcraft and Star Wars Galaxies, there's no compelling reason to do so. Many players of these titles play them as a game -- a competition either against the game environment or against other players. Hard-core roleplayers are actively looked down upon in many cases. Most of these games would more accurately be called "MMOG's" since the roleplaying aspect is either minimal or non-existent. A true role-playing game, however, should have much the same feel as a table-top role-playing game -- we become the character and adventure towards a larger purpose.


- The purpose of a role-playing game is not to "gain levels" or to "get stuff"

Table-top RPG players have historically disdained the "Monty Haul" campaign, in which the sole purpose of the adventure is to get more and more "stuff." As has been commented upon by a variety of authors, game masters should avoid this type of campaign because the players will quickly become bored unless they get continuously bigger and better loot. The number one problem with most MMOG's on the market today is that they are essentially a level treadmill: Gain levels so that you can use (or obtain) better stuff, the only purpose of which is to gain more levels. Players should be able to affect the world in which they live, even if in a small way. Furthermore, they should be able to set their own goals and have the game world support the attainment of those goals. Single-player RPGs can easily allow the characters to change the world. This is much more difficult in a multiplayer game (not everyone can destroy the Death Star, after all). The table-top RPG Traveller was one of the best examples of player-driven goal setting. Often characters would spend their lives working towards a goal (owning and operating a starship, establishing a trade empire, liberating a planet, etc.) and have no need of "levels" or even experience points -- in fact, Traveller has neither concept. While it goes against the wisdom of the current crop of MMOG's (and the D20 RPG system, for that matter), one of the main goals of Exodus Project Online is to demonstrate that the level treadmill is not the only way. "Bucking the trend" in this way is, of course, what indies do best.


This blog will track the design of the game and its evolution over the course of development. It is intended to be a living document, one which will almost certainly change over time. The realities of game development are that the feature set is more likely to be reduced over time than expanded, but so long as the changes maintain the overall goal of a fun and immersive game, that's acceptable. I plan to update this blog once a month; if you'd like weekly updates, be sure to check out the main Exodus Project site at www.ExodusProject.com!