Press-kit

Fact sheet

Developer: Studio 61
(GameXP's own studio in Rostov-on-Don)

Release date: 2015

Platform: PC

Website:

Game type: Free-to-play, client-side

Genre: MMORPG

About the game

Sphere 3 is a continuation of the first client game developed in Russia in the MMORPG genre. The new project is largely focused on PvP, although with ample opportunities for passing in the "player versus player" format, there is a well-developed scenario line in the style of classic "fantasy". Science fiction writer Alexander Zorich (the creative pseudonym of the author's duo D. Gordevsky and Ya. Boatswain) worked on the plot of the game, which currently includes more than 1000 quests...

The execution of a line of scenario quests that reveal the history of the confrontation between the four races, saturated with political intrigues and betrayals, is designed for more than 600 hours of play. Next, users will be able to fully concentrate on high-level PvP-passing, the central element of which is the massive sieges of castles generously scattered throughout the Sphere. In addition, special modes are provided for developed characters, including epic missions (global quests that require the participation of several players at once and guarantee valuable game items as a reward). Battles between players can take place anywhere in the game world, with the exception of starting zones and some special locations. The game has received a new non-target (the user independently determines the object of attack using the sight) combat system, which offers a high degree of freedom for experienced warriors and a beginner-friendly mode.

Features

• Total PvP zone: battles between players, clans, associations and factions in various modes can take place in most game zones (in some cases even at the starting locations).
• Only non-target, only hardcore: the combat system of "Sphere 3" gives full freedom of action, performs dynamic damage calculation and allows the player to quickly select the most effective type of attack thanks to a unique designator with a special color indication.
• Productivity — to the masses: more than moderate requirements for user hardware and Internet connection speeds make Sphere 3 an ideal place for massive PvP battles.
• An exciting adventure in a detailed world: at the moment, the storyline authored by A. Zorich has more than 1000 quests, completing which players get up to 80% of the total experience.
• Sieges — complex, epic, exciting: in order to conquer the castle, the attacking side will have to use an arsenal of siege weapons and fulfill a number of conditions (including holding points with flags). The castle as the center of the universe: competent micromanagement, the development of defenses and constant readiness to repel the enemy — the main difficulties for the owners of the castle are compensated by the fact that some of the best items available in the game can be obtained here.
• Tough but fair PK (Player Kill) and karma system: PK is not punished in any way in numerous free PvP zones, while the character who has accumulated negative karma loses not only gold, but also items.
• Balanced PvP team: 9 classes with their own unique advantages and disadvantages, clearly sharpened to perform certain tactical tasks in a group.
• A variety of PvE attractions: dungeons, world bosses, global cooperative missions with dangerous forays into the enemy camp, etc.

Plot

The ebullient activity outside and the sullen readiness to accept mourning are deep inside: for two long months the inhabitants of Ollanor lived in confusion. The protracted search for Vilgwan Gracewood, the first heir to the royal adviser, brought neither direct results nor indirect evidence...

And so, two long months after the disappearance of the noble offspring, a strange embassy arrived at the walls of the main city in the kingdom of people: elves and demons. Together. Who would have thought that such an alliance was possible? Only two hundred years have passed since the beginning of the third Round of the Sphere, marked by a bloody massacre in the Fields of Eternal Fury. Just two hundred years ago, humans, elves, dwarves and their supreme deities united to banish the horde of Vagrot the Thousand-Faced once and for all beyond the inhabited levels of the universe. Hardly had the earth managed to absorb the blood of heroic ancestors — so generously it flowed two centuries ago — as the demons again got out into the light of God. And now their ally has become the most enlightened, closest to the common heritage of the Ancient people of the Sphere — the elves. Those who have given themselves to the sinister mysteries in the Temple of the Blood Moon, who betrayed the old gods out of a vain desire to prove their superiority over other elves. Evil itself and betrayal itself came to the gates of Ollanor with an offering for King Ekmar II packed in a closed chest. Waving his hand at the protests of the palace guard, the monarch receives an ominous delegation: the first among people has no right to be afraid. Without unnecessary words and unnecessary curtsies, the ambassadors open the gift chest in front of Ekmar. Someone from the nobles gathered in the throne room falls senseless, those that are stronger are limited to sighs: they are shown the head of the missing favorite of the kingdom of Vilgvan Gracewood gaping with empty bloody eye sockets. In the sepulchral voice of Vagrot the Thousand-Faced, in which the heat of the underworld and the despair of endless falling into the abyss have merged, the head promises total extermination and declares war on the Union of Basalt and Steel, uniting humans and dwarves, on behalf of the Dark League, uniting demons and elves. In response, the king personally beheads the ambassadors. Together with the heads of the ill—fated delegation to Brionnfall - the new capital of the forces of darkness — a short note is sent with an emphatically restrained promise of reckoning. Within a week, the Snake and Crow legions of demons capture the first border area — the valley of Bristly Fields. Every turn of the Sphere turns into a new war, but the Enemy has never been so strong...

Developers about development

• How the legend returned: about the difficulties that have been overcome in the process of overcoming, about the ideas that have been implemented and are in the process of being implemented, as well as about what Sphere 3 could have been, but did not become, and in what direction the project will develop further, the creators of the game from Studio 61 tell.*

How long ago did the development of Sphere 3 begin?

The early stage of development, which was conducted at the conceptual rather than software level, began back in June 2010. However, the project was not called "Sphere 3" at that time. This name appeared much later, after many different concepts were "measured"...

What engine is the game being created on?

The game is created on a proprietary engine. From the very beginning, we planned to make mass sieges of castles the central element of the gameplay of Sphere 3 — hence the need to find some kind of "golden mean" between beauty and performance, which we planned to achieve even on computers of the most modest configuration. As a result, the game turned out to be really very unpretentious in terms of system requirements and at the same time quite pleasant in visual terms. Shaders, post—effects, shadow and shine maps, a new technology for building a landscape with smooth transitions between materials, an improved physics engine and an improved scripting system - the first "Sphere" did not have all this. However, the need for optimization dictated some limitations: for Sphere 3, comfortable and dynamic gameplay is above all during even the most large-scale battle between the owners of far from top-end "machines".

*What difficulties did you face during the development process and how did you overcome the main ones?**

The main stumbling block was the aiming system. On the one hand, I wanted to maintain a recognizable "shooter" style, that is, continuity with the first "Sphere". On the other hand, I wanted to make a variety in the style of fighting. This is how sector attacks and attacks in the spherical zone appeared. Aiming mechanics have been reworked many times in an attempt to find an option that provides a combination of simplicity and dynamics of combat for beginners, as well as depth and variability of strategies for experienced players. The quest system and castle sieges — the main gameplay element of the new "Sphere" — have also been redone several times. Of course, there is still a lot of work ahead, but we believe that we have managed to find successful solutions.

Why didn't you continue the plot of the first "Sphere"?

Firstly, the story of the first "Sphere" was really well worked out, but there is also a negative side here: in terms of building a more epic, detailed story, it tied our hands. A person who is well acquainted with the universe of the first "Sphere" will understand how unnatural it would look to try to weave several new races there besides humans. Secondly, another screenwriter, the famous writer Alexander Zorich, took up the history of Sphere 3. Jan and Dmitry (Yana Bosman and Dmitry Gordevsky are an author's duo writing under the pseudonym A. Zorich), of course, have a lot of their own, completely new ideas. Already, the plot and setting of Sphere 3 has been worked out at a very high level of detail.

*Could Sphere 3 have turned out to be completely different, and if so, which one? Tell us about the ideas you rejected.**

Probably the most radically rejected option is to turn the Sphere into a classic target MMORPG. We approached him several times, because it would solve a lot of issues at once, would make the gameplay more standard, familiar and easy for most casual users. Surely, at the same time it was possible to count on a wider audience. But at the same time it would not be a "Sphere" at all. Actually, compliance with the spirit of the first part has become for us the main criterion for accepting new ideas or rejecting them.

Did you listen to the veterans of the "Sphere" in the process of working on the third part?

We can say that we listened to the veterans of the first part even when we had no right to take information about the development of the game outside the office. It's just that veterans of the Sphere, including people who worked on the first part, are not uncommon among our team members. Veterans from the gaming communities saw a new "Sphere" after the start of the first stage of the PTA — invitations were sent to most of them to participate in testing and exchange impressions with us, the developers. Now we often get very useful feedback from them — in many ways, their opinion will determine what the game will be in its final form.

What direction in the further development of the game do you plan as a priority?

We will increase the value of castles as the main game feature. To do this, we will make castle dungeons, add teleporters to the castles. It is also planned to introduce achievements, battlegrounds, personal pets that help collect loot. Soon there will be an opportunity to paint your things in different colors. In order for players to better express themselves, we will make it possible to put on masks and other elements of decoration. Of the big game mechanics in the future, adding crafting — we don't want to rush things, so we pay a lot of attention to this game system.

How will the game be updated (scale, regularity)? Is it possible that we will see a global addition, for example, with a new race?

Indeed, new races are in the plans and it's not a secret for users: everyone is waiting for elves and dwarves. Large game features require significant development time, so we will work in parallel on large additions and smaller ones in order to please our players with updates more often. There will also be constant work on balance: for a project with an emphasis on PvP, this is simply necessary.

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Press about the game

• "First impressions of "Sphere 3". Just like in the good old days" (GameGuru)
• ["The harsh PvP world of Sphere 3: details about the project and the start date of the PTA" (Riot Pixels)](http://riotpixels.com/surovyj-pvp-mir-sfery-3-podrobnosti-o-proekte-i-data-nachala-zbt /)
• "First Look at Sphere 3" (IGN Russia)
• [«„Sphere 3": continuation of the first MMORPG of domestic production" (Gametech)](http://www.gametech.ru/articles/616 /)
• "Classes, castle sieges and other details of the Russian MMORPG Sphere 3" (3DNews)
• How the Sphere was created: the history of the first domestic series ММО

About us

NIKITA ONLINE, founded in 1991, is the first gaming company in Russia. Today it is one of the leading Russian publishers and developers of online games. The company's portfolio includes more than a hundred games of various genres of its own development and more than seventy localizations of foreign projects. NIKITA ONLINE has the most advanced technologies and expertise in the development, operation and support of multiplayer games.

All projects are presented on one of the largest Russian-language entertainment portals GameXP (https://www . gamexp. com/), which provides more than 12 million of its users with convenient services for registration, authorization and communication.

NIKITA ONLINE offices are located in Moscow and Rostov-on-Don.

Studio 61, founded in 1997, is one of the leading Russian developers of computer games. Studio 61's portfolio includes, among other things, unique three—dimensional quests "The Sixth Dimension" and "Full Flight", Russia's first client MMORPG "Sphere", a game for social networks "The Price of Freedom: the Secret of the puppeteer". Studio 61 is located in Rostov-on-Don and is part of NIKITA ONLINE.

Contact us

If you liked our game, but you did not find the information you are interested in or just want to chat with the creators of the project, then we will be happy to answer your questions as fully and promptly as possible, as well as consider the possibilities of informational cooperation.

NIKITA ONLINE Press Service

pr@gamexp.com

+7 (495) 788-79-36