Shadow Cities (location-based MMORPG for the iPhone)

Matt DMatt D Posts: 13,153
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Hunting for info about whether Google/Niantic's "Ingress" AR-MMO was ever going to come to iOS, I found a location-based MMORPG for the iPhone:

Shadow Cities

The game itself is free, but if you're impatient you can use real money to buy extra Mana potions.

Magic has returned to the world after 600 years. You are a Mage and must pick one of two sides, the "Architects" (orange) or "Animators" (green), battling to control magic and the world, blah blah blah.

Teams are split further into "Battlegroups", which are States (US) or countries (outside US). I'm an Architect in the UKBG, fighting the Animator UKBG in the weekly campaign rounds.

You play on a map of your location, but can "warp" to other areas.

You attack "Spirits" to gain XP and energy. As well as Spirits, you can also attack enemy players ("Mages") and structures ("Dominators", "Beacons", "Wards", etc.).

You cast "Dominators" to conquer "Gateways" for your team and to harvest energy. There's a campaign each week between the two teams, and each campaign is split into three rounds. The team that gains the most energy wins.

You cast "Beacons" for Warping, "Wards" to protect against enemy players, and "Catchers" to nab Spirits for you.

As you get XP to level up you also get "Attribute Points" to put into the health bar / mana bar / regen speed / damage dealing, and also get "Spell Points" to upgrade existing spells or unlock new ones.

In addition to the main campaign each week, you also have your own missions through the day that net you extra XP and energy etc. e.g. kill certain types of Spirits, destroy a certain number of enemy Dominators, and so on.

You can also travel to other locations via warping to nearby Gateways or by using Beacons, so you are not limited to your own local area. I've been all over the US and Europe, and played with all sorts of people.

I've been playing for over a month now and I love it. My profile: http://www.shadowcities.com/user/MisterTez/

If anyone does give it a try (join the Architects!), say hello in the Team Chat and Cross-Team Chat. They're a friendly bunch and always happy to help new players. I've got several friends on it now, and have started doing a lot of group stuff instead of just solo Spirit hunting like when I started. You can team up to go raid enemy bases, battle other Mages, or go up against the giant boss spirits (these huge spider things that take multiple people to kill them).

http://massively.joystiq.com/2011/03/07/gdc-2011-gray-areas-shadow-cities-redefines-mobile-mmorpgs-and/

http://www.pocketgamer.co.uk/r/iPhone/Shadow+Cities/review.asp?c=30636

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/07/16/arts/video-games/shadow-cities-a-new-iphone-video-game-review.html?_r=0

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oMBvInCvEjM

Comments

  • whoever,heywhoever,hey Posts: 30,992
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    Ingress ripoff.
  • Matt DMatt D Posts: 13,153
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    Ingress ripoff.

    Maybe read up on something first before making inaccurate statements? Hell, all four links at the end of my post were from 2011, well before Ingress was released or known about...Two of them even have the year visible in the post in the URL.


    Shadow Cities: First released in the Finnish App Store in November 2010, and then released in the UK, US, and elsewhere in 2011.

    Ingress: First released as a closed beta on Google Play in November 2012.




    https://itunes.apple.com/gb/app/shadow-cities/id387962119?mt=8
  • paulbrockpaulbrock Posts: 16,632
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    There have been a few variants before Ingress, I remember playing Parallel Kingdoms which involved moving around town and fighting monsters.... it's also been suggested geo caching and even 4 square paved the way for ingress.

    Not sure why ingress got so popular though. Player estimates are around 200k worldwide. Whether it's because it's deceptively simple (seen some 7 year olds play) or being Google backed, more freeform or something else I couldn't say... #enlightened

    If you can warp in shadow cities does that mean you never have to leave the house when playing?
  • Matt DMatt D Posts: 13,153
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    I really hope they do release an iOS version of Ingress...


    As for Shadow Cities: Yes, warping to beacons belonging to other players means you can play without ever physically going anywhere. It is better when you do, though. It's fun to call a "drive by" when you spot an enemy base on your travels, cast a beacon, and get support from friends.
  • paulbrockpaulbrock Posts: 16,632
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    Matt D wrote: »
    I really hope they do release an iOS version of Ingress...

    most chat from employees suggests they will at some point. For a long time they struggled to support the number of players coming in, they stopped adding new players while their systems caught up. Now though invites are easy to come by, every player gets 5-7 invites to give out, and apparently if you sign up online, you get an invite code the same day (used to take weeks). So now that's all under control, they may well look to an iOS version.

    And the same guys at Niantic Labs have already released their other app, Field Trip, on iOS.
    https://itunes.apple.com/gb/app/field-trip/id567841460?mt=8

    Now, its been suggested by some players that when it opens up to iOS users, they should go into a special 3rd faction! Can't see that happening though, just silly fanboy stuff reminiscent of the anger at 'allowing' Android owners onto Instagram..
  • Matt DMatt D Posts: 13,153
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    Ah, I've seen Field Trip. Didn't realise it was the same team.
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