''Perpetuum'' is a video game by
Avatar Creations Ltd. It is a player-driven persistent-world
MMORPG
A massively multiplayer online role-playing game (MMORPG) is a video game that combines aspects of a role-playing video game and a massively multiplayer online game.
As in role-playing games (RPGs), the player assumes the role of a Player charac ...
set in a science fiction ground setting.
Players pilot customisable robots on various islands connected by several teleports. These islands are either alpha ('safe' from attacks by players) or beta/gamma, meaning players can freely engage each other.
Players of ''Perpetuum'' are able to participate in a number of in-game professions and activities, including mining, logistics,
missions, manufacturing,
trading
Trade involves the transfer of goods and services from one person or entity to another, often in exchange for money. Economists refer to a system or network that allows trade as a market.
An early form of trade, barter, saw the direct exchan ...
,
artifact hunting and
combat
Combat ( French for ''fight'') is a purposeful violent conflict meant to physically harm or kill the opposition. Combat may be armed (using weapons) or unarmed ( not using weapons). Combat is sometimes resorted to as a method of self-defense, or ...
(both
player versus environment
Player versus environment or player versus enemy (PvE, also known as player versus monster (PvM)), is a term used for both single player and online games, particularly MMORPGs, CORPGs, MUDs, other online role-playing video games and survival game ...
and
player versus player
Player versus player (PvP) is a type of multiplayer interactive conflict within a game between human players. This is often compared to player versus environment (PvE), in which the game itself controls its players' opponents. The terms are mos ...
). The range of activities available to the player is facilitated by a character advancement system based upon extension points accumulation (EP) in real time, even while not logged into the game.
''Perpetuum'' was first released worldwide via a
digital distribution
Digital distribution, also referred to as content delivery, online distribution, or electronic software distribution, among others, is the delivery or distribution of digital media content (media), content such as Sound recording and reproductio ...
scheme on 25 Nov 2010, following a period of closed and open beta testing. The first major upgrade was the version of ''Perpetuum'' dubbed ''Terra Incognita'', which was released on 4 May 2011.
The second (current) major upgrade was released 1 June 2012, and is dubbed ''Gamma Frontier''. The main feature of the upgrade is 24 new terraformable islands where player-built settlements (networkable buildings and defensive structures) can be constructed. In April 2014, ''Perpetuum'' has dropped its subscription payment model for a
pay to play
Pay-to-play, sometimes pay-for-play or P2P, is a phrase used for a variety of situations in which money is exchanged for services or the privilege to engage in certain activities. The common denominator of all forms of pay-to-play is that one mus ...
payment model., and released on Steam, being previously
greenlit
To green-light is to give permission to proceed with a project. The term is a reference to the green traffic signal, indicating "go ahead".
Film industry
In the context of the film and television industries, to green-light something is to ...
. The game closed its servers on 25 January 2018, with the server code being
open source
Open source is source code that is made freely available for possible modification and redistribution. Products include permission to use the source code, design documents, or content of the product. The open-source model is a decentralized sof ...
d and handed over to the community.
Setting
Set somewhere after 2208, the back story of ''Perpetuum'' explains that humanity, in search of alternative energy sources, has stumbled upon technology to create tiny particle-sized wormholes, creating shortcuts through spacetime. After sending miniature probes out to map known extrasolar planets, one of them stumbled upon a planet designated Nia, home to a synthetic, robot-like lifeform.
It was soon discovered these lifeforms have unique and efficient ways to produce energy, so it was to become an objective for conquest. Earth-based IT specialists found a way by using probes to hack into the alien information system, enabling them to take over several lifeforms and set up a base, facilitated by the fact that most of the alien lifeforms were already divided by a long-standing war and were unable to respond quickly to the takeover. Now that the conquest has begun, the aliens have reinforced their networks and the war will have to be decided on the ground. As it stands, human pilots known as agents control their robots remotely, participating in the Perpetuum Project, with their main goal to transfer as much energy as possible back to earth.
Nia is home to three alien factions: the Pelistal Empire (green, preferring missile launchers), the Nuimqol Union (blue, preferring railguns) and the Thelodica Clan (yellow, preferring lasers). The faction representing Earth is known as the Syndicate, which will also provide new agents with an Arkhe, a weak but fully featured beginner robot. Alpha islands are represented by a syndicate foothold, also providing security for agents against other agents.
Gameplay
Players start the game by either selecting a previously-created character or by creating a new one. Each ''Perpetuum'' account allows for up to three characters to be made. When players create a new character they start by choosing one of the three Earth megacorporations (ICS, Truhold-Markson, Asintec), followed by schools (combat, industrial, logistics) and further specializations. These choices also affect starting extensions and attributes. Choosing an Earth megacorporation also determines for which alien faction you'll receive starting extensions for, but by no means limit or determine what faction the player eventually can or cannot use.
Universe
The playing environment in ''Perpetuum'' consists of several islands, and have either alpha, beta or gamma status. Islands are connected by a teleport network.
Alpha islands are relative safe; player vs player
(PvP) can not be initiated unless players activate their PvP flags, and NPC's are (with some rare exceptions) of relative low difficulty and/or value. Beta islands offer more of rarer resources, more challenges and higher rewards, but players can always attack each other. Additionally, beta island offer corporation-owned outposts, to be conquered from other corporations in what is known as an intrusion. This system was later improved, with a more organic mechanic, where ownership of an outpost must be reinforced by completing small objectives randomly set every 8–16 hours, ensuring the owner has a convincing foothold in the area.
All islands originally belonged to one of the three alien factions, and feature faction-specific textures and architecture.
Advancement
Unlike most other
massively multiplayer online game
A massively multiplayer online game (MMOG or more commonly MMO) is an online video game with a large number of players, often hundreds or thousands, on the same server. MMOs usually feature a huge, persistent world, persistent open world, alt ...
s, player characters in ''Perpetuum'' advance continuously over time by the accumulation of extension points (EP), a passive process that occurs in real world time so that the advancement process continues even if the player is not logged in. One EP is assigned every minute to a player's account's EP pool, from which the player can install abilities, or ''extensions'', to any of up to 3 characters.
Any extension can be installed, depending on their prerequisites, but their rank (1 to 9) and attributes determine the cost for increasing levels. Although older players seem to have the advantage (having acquired more EP), younger players can install a wide assortment of extensions straight away, while older players will pay an increasingly larger amount of EP for smaller nominal advantages. Additionally, if a new player is willing to specialize, they can catch up quickly.
Economy
The
in-game economy in ''Perpetuum'' is an
open economy
An open economy is a type of economy where not only domestic factors but also entities in other countries engage in trade of products (goods and services). Trade can take the form of managerial exchange, technology transfers, and all kinds of goo ...
that is largely player-driven.
Non-player character
A non-player character (NPC), or non-playable character, is any character in a game that is not controlled by a player. The term originated in traditional tabletop role-playing games where it applies to characters controlled by the gamemaster o ...
(NPC) merchants sell low level modules and ammo. The players themselves gather the necessary raw materials to manufacture a large portion of all of the robots, modules and ammunition in the game. NPC robots can be looted for items, kernels (to be sold or used for research, providing base knowledge to build items) and materials. The in-game currency is called NIC, an abbreviation for Nian Credit (the events of the game take place on the planet Nia).
The amount of money or materials in the universe is not fixed and, as such, the economy operates under
supply and demand
In microeconomics, supply and demand is an economic model of price determination in a Market (economics), market. It postulates that, Ceteris paribus, holding all else equal, in a perfect competition, competitive market, the unit price for a ...
. The game provides support for the trading of in-game resources, including graphs of item price history. Some players operate primarily as traders, buying, selling and transporting goods to earn profits. Others operate primarily as producers, purchasing components or raw materials and transforming them, sometimes on massive scales, into useful items such as modules, robots, ammunition, or various technologies wanted by players. Others still operate as miners, collecting and sometimes processing the raw materials used in manufacturing to sell on to others in bulk.
Robots
Robots in ''Perpetuum'' are organized into four general classes: Light robots, assault robots, mechs and heavy mechs. With the 3 alien factions, the game follows a
rock-paper-scissors
Rock paper scissors (also known by other orderings of the three items, with "rock" sometimes being called "stone," or as Rochambeau, roshambo, or ro-sham-bo) is a hand game originating in China, usually played between two people, in which each p ...
scheme, where each faction is weak to one faction, but strong to the other. Additionally, there is a fourth industrial faction, but they feature no significant offensive capabilities.
Each robot has a different set of characteristics and can be fitted with different combinations of modules subject to their fitting requirements. Robots have a wide variety of characteristics, including (but not limited to) reactor size, CPU (robot's computer processing power), accumulator size and accumulator recharge rate (functionally, a battery for activating high powered systems), armor, maximum velocity, locking range, time and maximum number of lockable targets. Robot systems also receive bonuses to performance depending on the level of various appropriate extensions that have been activated by the robot's pilot. These bonuses usually correspond closely to the particular role that the robot has been designed for, and thus vary as widely as the roles of the robots.
One of the most important characteristics of a robot is the slots it has available for fitting modules. Each robot has a number of slots available, ranging from a handful to ten or more. Slots and modules come in three variants: head, legs, and chassis slots, with head modules fitting in a corresponding head slot and so on. Generally speaking, head slots can be considered electronics (such as scanners or sensor amplifiers), legs slots for engineering and chassis slots are for offensive and industrial modules.
Players and communities
Players have several options when playing ''Perpetuum'' in regards to how they interact with the community. Some activities can be completed as a solo player, but most activities are more suitable for groups of players, for example corporations (similar to
guilds
A guild ( ) is an association of artisans and merchants who oversee the practice of their craft/trade in a particular area. The earliest types of guild formed as organizations of tradesmen belonging to a professional association. They sometimes ...
in other MMOs), are run by a chief executive officer (CEO), who also controls the corporation's assets. Several other roles can be given to other corporation members, covering aspects such as finances, storage space, production, promotion, recruitment and diplomacy.
Accounts and subscriptions
Users start playing ''Perpetuum'' by buying the game. No subscription is required.
See also
*
EVE Online
''Eve Online'' (stylised ''EVE Online'') is a space-based, persistent world massively multiplayer online role-playing game (MMORPG) developed and published by CCP Games. Players of ''Eve Online'' can participate in a number of in-game profess ...
References
External links
*{{Official website, http://www.perpetuum-online.com/
Rock Paper Shotgun CoverageMassively CoverageFOOM Perpetuum WikiPerpetuum on MobyGames.com
2010 video games
Massively multiplayer online role-playing games
Science fiction massively multiplayer online role-playing games
Video games developed in Hungary
Virtual economies
Virtual reality
Windows games
Windows-only games
Steam Greenlight games
Inactive massively multiplayer online games