In the early days of the development of online games, network bandwidth limitations were an important reason for hindering the development of this type of game. In the 1980s, due to the popularity and bandwidth speed of the Internet at that time, online games were limited to text MUD. With the popularization of civilian networks and technological advancement, the Internet was developing at an alarming speed. Graphical online games Also began to appear. In 1996, the foundation of the world's first 3D graphics online game "Meridian 59" was built and almost taken shape. The era of seeing game characters interacting on the Internet in the game world they created was born.
The historical origin of "Meridian 59" can be traced back to 1978. Almost at the same time that Tribshaw started to develop MUD1, Alan E. Klietz, a programmer from Minnesota, USA, began to develop a new version called "Scepter of Goth" MUD, later operated by Interplay, was the first commercial MUD in the United States. The game at the time attracted two student players-Andrew Kirmse and Chris Kirmse, two brothers from the German immigrant Kramers family. The duo are very obsessed with this game, even ten years later, they are still very enthusiastic about this ancient MUD.
In 1994, due to the emergence of graphic online games such as "Neverwinter Nights", the two brothers who were about to graduate from college thought that they could make a graphic version of the ancient game "Gothic Scepter". For most people, this accidental idea may be quickly forgotten, but for these two avid players, it is an urgent thing to realize their dreams before they actually step into the society.
Since the online games of the same period cannot be used as a reference, the brothers decided to use a graphics engine similar to the most popular shooting game at the time "DOOM" to make this project. At the critical moment of college graduation, the two used their free time to play Meridian 59 in the basement of their home. Andrew and Chris were very excited, but they also knew that there was a tougher road ahead.
In the summer of 1995, the Alpha test of the game started. During the test, up to 35 players were online at the same time. Only 7 rooms, 3 monsters, 2 skills and 1 mission can be experienced in the game. Since this version has no restrictions on PVP, idle players quickly find their own fun. Crazy PVP is carried out on the test server, leaving corpses all over the floor. Although only 35 players are supported, the server load is still constantly overloaded.
At this time they met two other brothers: Mike Sellers and Steve Sellers. The Sals brothers helped the two brothers of the Rimus family solve their financial difficulties and established a company called Archetype Interactive. Subsequently, the project recruited more talents. Damion Schubert and Rich Vogel joined the team in 1995.
At this time, the name of the game has not yet been determined. After discussion by the project members, it was finally named "Meridian", but since this name is also the name of a printer driver, it was later renamed "Meridian 59" (the story of the game takes place) In colony No. 59 in an ancient empire, hence the name). During the discussion, some project members thought TOS was a good name, but it was used as the city name in the game at the suggestion of Damian Schubert. Damian Schubert asked the company to hire his brother Tim (Tim Schubert) to plan and build TOS with him, and the city quickly became the center of players' social interaction.
During the Alpha test, the development team had a lot of exchanges with test players, and even asked some test players to help improve the game. A player in the game nicknamed "Q" by his real name Rob Ellis (Rob Ellis) volunteered to help the game improve the level system, and was later absorbed into the development team.
On December 15, 1995, "Meridian 59" began to be tested for players, and a few months later began public testing. The game server was placed in Chris' dormitory. At this time, the development team optimized the number of servers carried. , The game has supported hundreds of people online at the same time. Online games with 3D graphics engines have aroused the interest of players, and in order to meet the content needs of more and more players, the development team has also added more rooms, monsters and missions to the game.
However, the completion of the game is still very low at this time. Due to Archetype Interactive's financial strength and limited staff size, there is a long way to go to complete the development of the game and operate it smoothly. But soon they were fortunate to usher in an opportunity: a report published in the "New York Times" about the development company caught the attention of 3DO President Tripp Hawkins, and the fate of "Meridian 59" happened. change.
At this time, the 3D0 company has just emerged from the shadow of the failure of the 3DO host. The company needs to seek new business growth points. Trip Hawkins saw the huge prospects of the emerging online game market, Meridian 59" generated interest. After understanding the company and the project, Hawkins announced the acquisition of Archetype Interactive, a small company with $5 million in 3DO stocks. The members of the development team also moved to San Jose, California, where 3DO is located, and continued to improve the game.
Later facts proved that Tripp Hawkins, the game businessman who contributed to EA’s listing and founded 3DO, has a superb vision. He launched the first 32-bit console and the first 3D graphics network. Games have become pioneers leading the development of the industry, but history requires the blood of pioneers to move forward. In the online game business, although 3DO is the pioneer, it has not become the harvester of the final fruit. Of course, this is also a later story.
3DO company added more people to the development team, including programmer Brian Green (Brian Green) and others joined the team. After months of intense development, the game was finally completed and ready for operation. 3DO’s marketing staff advertised in game magazines and filled retailer’s shelves with game clients to prepare for game release. On September 27, 1996, the world's first 3D graphics online game "Meridian 59" was officially released. The first batch of 7 servers numbered 100-106 was put into operation. Later, 3DO opened 4 new servers.
As a pioneer, "Meridian" has created numerous game industry firsts: the first 3D graphics online game; the first online game issued by a major publisher; the first online game sold through retail channels; the first online game supported Register an account and download a client-side online game; the first online game that can play games as long as there is a network without entering a privatized network service provider...
The 3D graphics of "Meridian" are sometimes criticized, because It's not completely 3D: the game uses a graphics engine similar to DOOM. Only walls and buildings are 3D. Other characters, monsters, and objects are actually 2D. The game engine has some problems like the DOOM engine, for example, there is no jumping function in the game. But in addition to technology, as a pioneer, "Meridian 59" has made a lot of fresh attempts on the game system.
The background of "Meridian 59" is set on Colony 59 of an ancient empire. There is only one race for humans and three camps. Unlike most MMOs based on character levels at the time, "Meridian 59" does not have the concept of character levels. The improvement line of the game characters is based on skills. The way players want to improve their abilities is to go to the seven games in the game. Learn or improve skills in schools (including 1 weapon school and 6 magic schools). The experience value of each skill or spell is separate. Players can accumulate experience and increase their level by increasing the number of times the skill or spell is used to increase their proficiency. For example, if a player wants to improve the skill level of "weapon manufacturing", they need to build a bunch of weapons before they can increase the proficiency of the skill and then upgrade if the conditions are met.
The hit point system is somewhat similar to the skill system, and you need to accumulate experience and improve in the process of fighting monsters. The biggest idea of the game is its magic system. After entering the game, players have only limited mana and can release some simple spells. However, as the game progresses, players have raised higher mana limits whether they are fighting monsters or doing PVP tasks. Demand, at this time they can only look for mana nodes on the map to increase mana. The designer once said that the original intention of designing the mana node is actually to encourage players to explore game design, and facts have proved that this design does serve this purpose.
For "Meridian 59" players, figuring out the location of each mana node is an important game skill. In addition to some mana nodes in public areas, there are also many hidden nodes in the game, which require players to find them after a lot of difficult exploration. For example, a node in "Shadow of Sentinel" is located in a hidden cave. In order to find it, players must climb a very narrow step, defeat powerful monsters along the way, and jump to the top of the step and fall to the correct position to enter. Cave-Fortunately, there is no fall damage in the game.
Some mana nodes require the cooperation of players to find. For example, a mana node requires more than a dozen players to stand in the corresponding position and perform an action to appear. This basic team cooperation is also very important for the interaction between players. Great help. To a large extent, players are looking for mana nodes to serve PVP. Because the tasks of the game are limited, the PVP system is still the core of the late game, and wars between guilds will often break out on various servers.
In addition to the magic system that focuses on finding mana nodes, "Meridian 59" has designed a large number of genius systems, including the mail system, announcement system, guild hall, and guild badges that are common in today's games. The first appearance of the guild badge is here. In addition, there are guild voting, chess games built into the game, etc. The guild system in "Meridian 59" has been quite complete, with guild regulations and membership levels, and large guilds can even rent warehouses for members to store items.
"Meridian 59" has been updated several times since it was launched. The first was "Vale of Sorrows" on March 18, 1997. It has been updated several times since then, and some problems have also appeared in the meantime. At the beginning of the game's operation, as the largest online operator AOL introduced a $10 monthly fee to seize the online market, 3DO also followed this price strategy in pricing, causing the game to lose money for a long time, and finally had to adjust the monthly fee. To 30 dollars, and this also caused the loss of a third of the original few gamers.
Although the cost adjustment has increased a certain amount of income in the short term, it is still difficult to change the loss situation. At the same time, members of the development team gradually left. The emergence of online games such as "Genesis (U0)" and "EverQuest" brought a great impact. 3DO gradually began to lose confidence in "Meridian 59". On August 31, 2000, "Meridian 59" was officially closed.
But at this time, the fate of "Meridian 59" has not completely ended. In November 2001, Near Death Studios, composed of two development team members Rob Ellis and Brian Green, acquired the game from 3DO and released it as "Meridian 59: Resurrection" the following year. "Recommended into operation under the name of "." Afterwards, Ellis and Green optimized the game by adding Direct3D rendering, dynamic lighting, new models and visual effects. In 2004, they used "Meridian: Evolution" as the new name to promote, trying to expand the network game. Take a share in the market.
Due to the low cost and overhead, the improved "Meridian 59: Evolution" was operating well in the initial stage. By 2005, the game had 2,000 new registered users per month and the studio expanded to 5 people, but as more and more manufacturers enter the online game market, the competitiveness of "Meridian 59" as an antique game gradually declines, and eventually it has to stop serving on January 6, 2010.
After knowing this news, the Cremos brothers-the first two developers of "Meridian 59" took over the operation of the server at their own expense, continued to provide services to users, and continue to operate to this day. For many team members, including Rob Ellis, Brian Green, and the Cremos brothers, "Meridian 59" is their greatest pride in their lives, and it is also a constant bondage to break away.
Many development members of "Meridian 59" later participated in the development of some important online games, and some have been active in the forefront of online game development.
Bryan Green, who resurrected "Meridian 59" for 8 years, is now developing a game called Storybricks at a company called Namaste Entertainment. The game is somewhat similar to the Shanda "Zero World" mode, players mainly use its toolkit to create their own game world, including scenes, NPCs, stories, etc.
Mike Sayles founded The Big Network in 1997 after leaving 3DO, and then led the design of "Sim City Online", "The Sims 2" and UO 2.0 projects. Now he is developing the next generation with his own Online Alchemy team. Online game;
Damian Schubert briefly participated in the development of UO after leaving 3DO. When Origin started the UO 2.0 project, he became the chief designer of the project, but the project was eventually lost after 3 years of development. cancel. Later, Damian participated in the development of two games "The Sims Online" and "Shadowbane", and is now the main developer of Bioware "Star Wars: The Old Republic";
Ricky Waugh After leaving 3DO, Geer joined Origin and Damian to participate in the development of UO and served as the chief planner. After that, he joined SOE in 2000 as a producer and founded Austin Studios, leading the online game Star Wars: Galaxy (Star Wars). : Galaxies)", and now he and his old partner Schubert work together at EA's Bioware, as the producer of "Star Wars: The Old Republic".
As a 1996 game, although "Meridian 59" has many unsatisfactory places, its appearance marked the beginning of the mainstream of graphic online games, and MUD began to gradually withdraw from the stage of history. "Meridian 59" created the precedent for many online games. Some of its explorations in the system have affected many online games. Some of them are especially meaningful even today. At the same time, the game's contribution to talent transportation cannot be ignored.