Dev Blog: Capture the Flag

http://maplestory.nexon.net/News/News.as...ntNo=00Cfp

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Hello again Maplers!

Its hard to believe, but Chaos is almost complete. Age of Triumph is only a few days away and we are all working hard to launch the last update in our biggest summer ever. While all of Chaos was been pretty exciting, my team has been looking forward to Age of Triumph, and not just because it means this marathon of game updates has come to an end! Age of Triumph introduces Capture the Flag, a piece of content made exclusively for global MapleStory, This marks the first time in many years that a permanent piece of content designed by the gMS team will be added to the game, a dream come true for all MapleStory game developers and a point of pride for my team. Today, Id like to share with you how this little slice of Maple came about.

Why gMS Exclusive Content?

The Chaos update included a huge amount of new content for MapleStory, from entirely new systems like Professions, Personality Traits, and PvP, to significant balance changes for many classes and a huge number of events. While we knew that gMS players would enjoy all that Chaos had to offer, we felt that the game needed something special to cap the summer off. We only had a few months to design the final Age, so we started looking at content that other MapleStory teams had recently completed. Japan MapleStory had two things that we really liked: the Silent Crusade (a long, story-driven quest line involving master monsters) and a revamped Monster Book (eventually renamed Crusader Codex). Although we knew we would add them, they didnt really have any connection to the other Chaos content. If we wanted another piece to tie the final Age to Chaos, we decided it would have to be something we made ourselves.

We were very excited about the prospect of creating something new, despite the very tight timeline. Making content specifically for gMS is an ongoing goal for us, though between the large amount of content from kMS this year and the many live issues, we have not had much opportunity to do so. Thus, we dove into designing this content with great enthusiasm.

What to do? At first, we had only two criteria for the gMS exclusive content. It had to be related to one of the existing Chaos features, and it had to be small enough to be completed in time. We quickly gravitated toward working with PvP. This seemed like the obvious choice to us since the original concept for MapleStory PvP came from the gMS team; in our minds, PvP and gMS are fundamentally linked. Focusing on PvP also gave us a lot to work with. There are dozens of classic PvP modes we could explore and while most do not work with a 2D game, we had fun trying to convert them. We fleshed out several designs (including a very elaborate one that may enter the game at a later date) and prototyped a few before settling on Capture the Flag.

Why CTF?

Arriving at Capture the Flag was a bit of a surprise. While it is a classic PvP mode that has been used in games with widely divergent play styles, we originally felt it was not going to work in 2D. We tried other PvP modes that seemed easier to implement, but they felt like slight variations on Free for All. We came back to CTF because it had a few elements we really liked: its team based so it encourages cooperation, and it involves platforming/precise movement. Once we made a map and tried out the mode, we knew we had a winner. Weve had a great time playing together and have found that the classic CTF skills apply well in MapleStory. Once you get your hands on this mode, youll want to strategize with your team and organize a good defense because Maplers that are skilled on platforms can score fast!

Age of Triumph

Were very proud to be introducing a gMS exclusive piece of content that is also a permanent addition to the game, and we hope you enjoy the addition. Keep an eye on the website for updates about other content coming with Age of Triumph, and enjoy these final weeks of Chaos!

Until next time Maplers,

Eurydice

The MapleStory Team