Black Desert Online
| Black Desert Online | |
|---|---|
.png){kind=logo} | |
| Developer(s) | Pearl Abyss |
| Publisher(s) | Daum Games |
| Director(s) | Kim Daeil |
| Artist(s) | Seo Yongsu |
| Platform(s) | Microsoft Windows |
| Release date(s) |
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| Genre(s) | MMORPG |
| Mode(s) | Multiplayer |
Black Desert Online (Korean: 검은사막) is a sandbox-oriented massively multiplayer online role-playing game by Korean video game developer Pearl Abyss.[1][2] The game has been in development since 2010, and entered closed beta testing (CBT) in October 2013.[3][4][5][6] Black Desert Online uses Pearl Abyss' own "Black Desert" engine specifically created to handle the fast rendering required for its seamless world and large-scale castle sieges.[7][8] It was released in Korea in 2014, Japan and Russia in 2015, and North America and Europe in 2016. Black Desert Online uses a free-to-play model in Korea, Japan and Russia,[1][9][10] while in Europe and North America the game uses a buy-to-play model.[11]
Gameplay
The combat in Black Desert Online is action based, requiring manual aiming similar to those found in third-person shooters. Skills can be activated through use of combos. With limited healing skills players must rely on well timed dodging or blocking as well as the use of potions. Players can use the mouse and keyboard or gamepad for navigation and combat.
The game includes a number of features to assist with immersion and the sandbox aspect. These include:
- A parkour system, similar to that seen in Prince of Persia and Assassin's Creed, allowing players to climb, explore and interact with buildings and obstacles.[12]
- A dynamic, worldwide weather system which will include large scale events such as typhoons and will influence gameplay.[13] Localized weather will include events such as temporary fog which players may exploit to launch surprise attacks on rival guild structures.[14] Seasonal weather changes or travelling to areas with different climates will require the player to adjust their equipment, for example using warmer clothing in cold weather which also impacts on a player's statistics.[15]
- A dynamic day/night cycle with a gradual progression of lighting effects. During the night some NPCs will become unavailable as they return home while the number and type of monsters that a player may encounter will increase. Different game content will be available depending upon whether it is night or day.[16][17]
- Player housing will be instanced and will vary from tents through to more substantial houses and buildings. Players will be able to furnish and equip their housing and may hire NPCs to set up as traders from the building.[18][19]
- An active combat system requiring precise manual aiming, dodging & comboing, unlike the tab-targeting system seen in older MMORPGs.
- Players will be able to engage in mounted combat.[20][21] Mounts are acquired by taming in the wild and players are able to breed special mounts by mating certain types.[22] Mounts require feeding and care, cannot be stored in the inventory, and may be killed.[23]
- Extremely detailed customization of the character's body.[24]
- Over 2.8 Million words currently in the game, subject to increase as more quests are created.[25]
Plot
Black Desert Online takes place in a high fantasy setting and revolves around the conflict between two rival nations, the Republic of Calpheon and the Kingdom of Valencia.[8]
Development
APearl Abyss was founded in September 2010 by Kim Daeil, previously a developer with Hangame and NHN Gaming, and began development of Black Desert Online shortly after.[7][26][27] The company did not publicise the project initially, and Kim has said: "We actually wanted to wait out on publicly announcing this game since we wanted to develop more things... We thought that we shouldn't release too much information on our game just yet."[7] The first year of development involved concept design for the game and building a custom engine.[3] Kim said: "Our company consists of a lot of veteran game programmers and developers so creating a new engine wasn't that hard. We needed a special engine just for Black Desert mainly because it is a seamless world and needed an engine that can render a lot of characters very fast and easy."[7] Using their own engine rather than a proprietary engine such as the CryEngine or Unreal Engine also eased debugging and customization for the developers.[3]
After agreeing a Japanese publishing deal with GameOn Japan on 8 September 2012 Pearl Abyss began releasing details of the game to the public.[7][28] In November 2012 the game was demonstrated at G-Star, the Korean annual trade show for the computer and video games industry.[29] Black Desert Online was also showcased in August 2013 at gamescom, held in Cologne, Germany, where Pearl Abyss revealed that they had been approached by "many" interested publishers in the North American and European markets but were waiting for the closed beta release before progressing deals.[13][30]
A closed beta test (CBT) was initially scheduled for July 2013, but was pushed back to October 2013 while the developers refined the client.[31][32][33] The CBT, IP-locked to allow Korean players only, commenced 17 October 2013, scheduled to run until 23 October 2013.[34] The CBT was organised to test different features of the game each day, beginning with the quest and combat systems on days 1 and 2, progressing through the player housing system, player guilds, sieges, the trading system, NPC interactions and PvP on subsequent days.[35]
A second CBT, also IP locked for Korean players only, was scheduled for a 3-week period commencing 22 April 2014.[36][37] An open beta was launched on 17 December 2014.[38] North America and Europe did not receive an Open Beta.[25]
Closed alpha testing for both North America and Europe began on 27 October 2015 and ended on 1 November 2015. It was followed by a closed beta test (CBT1), beginning on 16 December 2015 and running until 22 December 2015. A second closed beta (CBT2) was opened on 18 February 2016 and ended on 22 February 2016. The game was fully released in both North America and Europe on 3 March 2016.[39]
Reception
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Black Desert Online has received generally favorable reviews from critics, currently holding a score of 75 on Metacritic[41] and 73% on GameRankings.[40] In April 2016, Daum Games announced that the game had achieved sales of 400,000 copies in its first month on the European and North American markets, and was showing an average of 100,000 concurrent users.[44][45]
References
- 1 2 Kain, Erik (25 January 2013). "'Black Desert' Is An Amazing Looking MMORPG, And It Has The Trailer To Prove It,". Forbes. Retrieved 10 October 2013.
- ↑ "Black Desert – Potential epic MMO in the making". MMO Culture. 8 September 2012. Retrieved 10 October 2013.
- 1 2 3 Fuller, Garrett (4 July 2013). "Daeil Kim On What Sets Their Game Apart". mmorpg.com. Retrieved 11 October 2013.
- ↑ Lefebvre, Eliot (26 September 2013). "Black Desert starts its first closed beta on October 17th". Massively. Retrieved 11 October 2013.
- ↑ "Black Desert Reveals PC Requirements for Korean CBT". 2p.com. 8 October 2013. Retrieved 11 October 2013.
- ↑ "Black Desert Closed Beta Day 1: Videos, Screenshots & Updates". MMOsite.com. 17 October 2013. Retrieved 19 October 2013.
- 1 2 3 4 5 "Black Desert Online Interview". steparu.com. 19 September 2012. Retrieved 11 October 2013.
- 1 2 "Black Desert – Interview with developer Pearl Abyss". MMO Culture. 9 March 2013. Retrieved 11 October 2013.
- ↑ "Black Desert Online: Overview". freemmostation.com. February 2013. Retrieved 11 October 2013.
- ↑ "《黑色沙漠》公開新一波遊戲畫面 一展遊戲內生活化的風貌 或開發PS4版本". gamer.com.tw. 23 August 2013. Retrieved 11 October 2013. (Chinese)
- ↑ http://black-desert.com/news/press-release-black-desert-west-will-be-b2p/
- ↑ "Black Desert Online Parkour". steparu.com. 26 September 2012. Retrieved 15 April 2014.
- 1 2 Palumbo, Alessio (28 August 2013). "Black Desert Gameplay and Interview". Worlds Factory. Retrieved 19 October 2013.
- ↑ "Black Desert – Closed Beta Videos, Screenshots & Updates Day 4". MMOCast. 20 October 2013. Retrieved 15 April 2014.
- ↑ Duchenne, Stephanie (26 August 2013). "Black Desert Online is an MMORPG that looks awesome". Gamezone. Retrieved 15 April 2014.
- ↑ "Black Desert Real Time Weather". steparu.com. 8 October 2012. Retrieved 15 April 2014.
- ↑ Lefebvre, Eliot (8 October 2012). "Black Desert shows off time transitions". Massively. Retrieved 15 April 2014.
- ↑ "Black Desert Housing System". steparu.com. 24 September 2012. Retrieved 15 April 2014.
- ↑ Reahard, Jef (24 September 2012). "Black Desert's housing system detailed". Massively. Retrieved 15 April 2014.
- ↑ "BLACK DESERT, INTERVISTA ESCLUSIVA". Worldsfactory. 18 April 2013. Archived from the original on 29 April 2013.
- ↑ Lefebvre, Eliot (18 April 2013). "Black Desert interview talks active combat and the big picture". Massively. Retrieved 17 April 2014.
- ↑ "Black Desert Pre-beta Interview with the Producer Kim Daeil". 2p.com. 27 March 2014. Retrieved 20 April 2014.
- ↑ "Black Desert: A Revolution in the Making". freemmostation.com. 13 March 2014. Retrieved 20 April 2014.
- ↑ Aziz, Hamza (7 April 2014). "Black Desert—This may be the best character creator system for a game yet". Retrieved 29 September 2014.
- 1 2 "Black Desert Online - A Chat With The Western Project Manager". WCCFtech. Retrieved 2015-10-30.
- ↑ "从战斗到战争!访《黑色沙漠》开发商CEO". 17173.com. 10 March 2013. Retrieved 19 October 2013. (Chinese)
- ↑ Park, Kyung-Min (13 September 2013). "R2 C9의 김대일 PD, 신규개발사 펄어비스로 컴백". inven. Retrieved 19 October 2013. (Korean)
- ↑ Yamaguchi, Kazunori (8 September 2012). "最新グラフィックスで描かれる次世代アクションMMORPG「黒い砂漠（仮）」日本独占ライセンス契約調印式詳報". 4Gamer.net. Retrieved 19 October 2013. (Japanese)
- ↑ "[G*Star 2012] Black Desert – Preparing to launch next year". MMO Culture. 10 November 2012. Retrieved 19 October 2013.
- ↑ Guthrie, M.J. (27 August 2013). "Black Desert Gamescom video shows 22 minutes of gameplay". Massively. Retrieved 19 October 2013.
- ↑ "Black Desert – Closed Beta schedule confirmed". MMO Culture. 22 January 2013. Retrieved 19 October 2013.
- ↑ "Black Desert CBT Delayed". steparu.com. 18 June 2013. Retrieved 19 October 2013.
- ↑ Lefebvre, Eliot (12 September 2013). "Black Desert bracing for Korean closed beta test". Massively. Retrieved 19 October 2013.
- ↑ "Black Desert First CBT Coming, CBT Application Page Released". 2p.com. 12 September 2013. Retrieved 19 October 2013.
- ↑ "Black Desert – Closed Beta Videos, Screenshots & Updates Day 1". MMO Cast. 17 October 2013. Retrieved 19 October 2013.
- ↑ "Black Desert Second Closed Beta Lasts for about Three Weeks". 2p. 20 March 2014. Retrieved 15 April 2014.
- ↑ Reahard, Jef (21 March 2014). "Black Desert ramping up beta testing". Massively. Retrieved 15 April 2014.
- ↑ "Everything You Need to Know about Black Desert So Far". 2p. 9 March 2014. Retrieved 15 April 2014.
- ↑ "Black Desert Online important pre-launch info". Black Desert Online. 24 February 2016. Retrieved 8 March 2016.
- 1 2 "Black Desert Online". GameRankings. Retrieved 7 April 2016.
- 1 2 "Black Desert Online". Metacritic. Retrieved 7 April 2016.
- ↑ VanOrd, Kevin (1 April 2016). "Black Desert Online Review". GameSpot. Retrieved 7 April 2016.
- ↑ Johnson, Leif (16 March 2016). "Black Desert Online Review". IGN. Retrieved 7 April 2016.
- ↑ "Black Desert Online Sells 400.000 Copies in its First Month". develop. 5 April 2016. Retrieved 11 April 2016.
- ↑ Nunneley, Stephany (5 April 2016). "Black Desert Online sold 400,000 copies its first month in the west". VG24/7. Retrieved 11 April 2016.