Gunbound Revo

Developer(s)	softnyx
Publisher(s)	EUR GOA INT softnyx JPN HANGAME CAN USA ijji
Platform(s)	Windows
Release date	INT June 2005 CAN USA July 2006 EUR January 2007 (Beta) JPN January 2007 (Beta)
Genre	Artillery
Mode	Multiplayer
Media	Download Only (113 MB)
System requirements	Intel Celeron 300 MHz CPU, more than 150MB hard disk space, DirectX 8.0a, dial-up Internet access, 64MB memory RAM, Video Card with 16MB memory RAM and 3D accelerator support.

GunBound is a free-to-play, turn-based, room-to-room, multiplayer online game with many similar features to the popular Worms game series.

GunBound was developed and is maintained by South Korean developer Softnyx. It is currently in its second major release, subtitled World Champion internationally and called GunBound Revolution in North America with ijji as its host. The first major beta release was Thor's Hammer.

Gameplay

GunBound has a turn-based artillery gameplay, bearing properties of two-dimensional games and ballistics-simulation games. In GunBound, players are assigned to two opposing teams which take turns firing at each other with vehicles called "Mobiles" in GunBound parlance. Each "Mobile" has three unique weapons, labeled "1", "2", and "SS" (Special Shot).

Factors like terrain condition, wind currents and elemental phenomena force players to continuously change their aim and trajectory power setting while rethinking their strategy at the same time. GunBound also implements a 'delay' turn system which is influenced by the Mobile, the weapon and/or item a player uses - using items or taking time with actions results in a longer wait before the player's next turn.

Avatars

A user's character can be equipped with clothing and other items, termed Avatar Items, which provide additional statistical bonuses that will assist players in the game, except on specific servers where avatar bonuses are disabled. This adds an element of customization for players. Gold (the game's currency) earned from battles can be spent on these Avatar items. Avatars can also be bought using cash which can be bought using money from a credit card or cash using PayPal or mail (Gcoins). Most common avatars can be bought by gold, and very strong avatars by G Coin, but some can be bought with both.

Mobiles

The game has twenty Mobiles in total. Every Mobile falls under one of three different defense categories: Mechanical, Shielded, and Bionic, and one of four different attack categories: Laser, Explosion, Impact, and Electrical.

Different mobiles have different defenses, attack and health levels, delay, angle ranges, bunge (land damage) ability, and moving ability. The 20 Mobiles are Armor, Mage, Nak, Lightning, JD, A.Sate, J.Frog, Kalsiddon, Trico, Bigfoot, Boomer, Ice, Turtle, Grub, Raon Launcher, Aduka, Maya, Phoenix, Dragon, and Knight. Choosing Random (which randomly picks a bot) is the only way to obtain the Dragon or Knight or Phoenix (if you aren't a Power User, Cash is used to pay for this EX Item) mobiles; the other bots can be chosen at any time prior to a battle.

Note: The Maya and Phoenix mobiles are not available on the Gunbound Revolution version yet.

Adventure Quest

AdventureQuest is an online single-player RPG developed by Artix Entertainment in 2002 and released on October 15 of that year. It is implemented in Flash and uses vector graphics, some of which are animated. The game follows the adventures of a character tied with the town of Battleon (the player) as he or she explores the game world while engaging in combat with various enemies. As of March 31, 2008, aq.battleon.com, the game's hosting website, has an Alexa rating of 1,029. AdventureQuest and all related games are set within the world of Lore, formerly a tongue-in-cheek reference to the game's original title, Lands of Rising Evil, which has since been explained to refer to Lorithia, a name of the goddess of creation in the game's storyline.

Guardianship, a measure introduced on February 22, 2003 to manage the costs of running the game, added a one-time fee-based character upgrade service. Ownership of the game transfered to the newly-formed Artix Entertainment in 2004, and a server population cap was added for non-Guardian players in May of that year. In June 2004, players of AdventureQuest reached 1 million in number.

By June 2005, the game had 5 million users, an amount which rapidly grew to 40 million by September 2007. As AdventureQuest grew, Artix Entertainment added new methods to pay for in-game content, such as X-Guardianship (in October 2005) and purchasable Z-Tokens (in June 2006), and released other related games, such as DragonFable (on July 26, 2005), MechQuest, ArchKnight and ZardWars.

Gameplay

Much of AdventureQuest's game play revolves around fighting monsters. On the players turn they may attack, equip a weapon shield or armor, drink a potion, cast a spell, call a pet or equip a miscellaneous item. Changing armor, weapon or shield does not use up a turn but equipping certain items, changing pets or drinking a potion does. On an opponents's turn it may attack, though some monsters have special attacks such as healing. Pack monsters and a few other monsters can summon reinforcements, which doesn't take up a turn.

As players defeat monsters, they gain Experience Points (XP), gold, and possibly Z-tokens. The XP is used for leveling up your character for more Mana, Health, etc. The gold is used for buying stronger items. Z-Tokens, not always dropped by monsters, can be used to buy special weapons from Valencia or to buy a house.

Battle

The most basic fights are started through random encounters (by clicking the "Battle Monsters" button), and after winning such fights, characters return to Battleon and can be fully healed by an NPC.

Several things can affect the outcome of a battle. Both characters and monsters have a "defense modifier" for each of the eight elements; a higher defense modifier means an attack of that element does more damage. There is also a defense modifier for each of the three methods of attacks: melee, ranged and magic; a lower number means greater vulnerability to that element of attack. Players can change their character's weapon, shield and armor according to the monster's defense modifiers. Also, some of the stronger bosses have defence modifiers to the Void element. There are a few other "Hidden" elements that are not shown, but still exist (Confirmed by the KO, the game's balancing team. Void is an example of such a hidden element.)

Six stats affect the amount of damage inflicted and taken, as well as the probability of an attack being resisted. In addition, pets and guests assist the character in doing extra damage. Strategic use of spells and items will give a character an advantage in combat. The combat system also uses luck as you attack a random number based on your weapon and stats.

When a battle begins, either the player or the monster goes first mostly depending on whoever has the more Luck. When it is the monsters turn, they do their own attack that can inflict different damage and sometimes effect the player's own defenses. The player's turn then would come if it hasn't already. The player could then equip the appropriate armor, shield, etc. The battle would then go on with consecutive Monster then Player turns. The player can have numerous types of attacks depending on what armor is used or if they decide to use their magic attacks. These Magic attacks cost a player MP (Mana Points which is the base of all magic in AQ). Sometimes, the attacks could also vary on what weapon is used. The weapon, depending on what one you are using, can sometimes release its Special attack that does not cost the player MP or HP. The battle would then continue until a monster's HP drops below zero or if the players drops to zero. If the monster dies, the character is awarded with experience and gold. Sometimes, they will also be rewarded with Z-Tokens. If a monster is a pack type (Junior Zard Pack, Orc Horde, Drakel War Party, etc.), sometimes they may summon reinforcements until they run out. Most pack monsters have a pre-determined amount of reinforcements, and will not die until all of them are killed. If a character's HP drops below zero, the character dies, and has to speak to Death to return to town without any penalties. The death is saved in the game's database.

Players may also inflict status effects on monsters such as Freezing and Paralysis using different weapons and other methods with a random chance of inflicting the effects

Dragon Fable (Online Game)

DragonFable is a free, online, browser-based, single-player RPG developed by Artix Entertainment. Created in July 2005, the game went into beta testing on November 21, and on June 10, 2006, the game was officially released. It is implemented in Adobe Flash and uses vector graphics, some of which are animated. The storyline to the game sets DragonFable as a prequel to the storyline of AdventureQuest and a sequel to that of MechQuest, each of which are also games from Artix Entertainment. DragonFable receives weekly updates with the introduction of new quests, monsters and weapons.

Each player must create an account, which can have up to three playable characters for non-paying players or up to six characters for Dragon Amulet holders (paying players). Each character is associated with a base class and has an upgradeable combat level and six trainable stats. The game allows players to engage in turn-based combat against monsters and villains to accumulate experience points, gold, and equipment. Players may use a character's gold to purchase additional equipment and pets in the game to aid in combat. Along with an ever-expanding world featuring regular quests, DragonFable also features temporary special events, such as holidays and wars.

Gameplay

In DragonFable players are able to walk around and explore a 2D world. The game is updated weekly with new quests, items, and areas. Players may also interact and team-up with NPCs in different towns and have them help in battle with special abilities.

Also, players may engage in PvP ("Player Versus Player") battles at an in-game arena called Aeris Battlespire. In these battles, contrary to its name, players do not actually compete against other real-world players who may also be online at that moment. Instead, the player's character battles against an AI-controlled opponent, whose configuration (name, appearance, and statistics) is based upon the saved profile of another player's character.

DragonFable has many unique monsters that may be encountered, as well as several recurring antagonists (enemies), such as Drakath, Sepulchure and Xan. Each enemy has his or her own goals and ambitions that intertwine with and form the game's storyline. There are many side quests that players can take to assist NPCs, gain experience points, or find rare items.

Battle

Combat in DragonFable uses a simple turn-based battle system with option commands like "attack" which lets warriors do a simple slash, rogues do two quick cuts with their daggers, and mages cast a spell using the element of the weapon they are currently wielding. There currently is no "flee" option, except in the special class ChickenCow Lord, and enemies currently cannot run away which renders the abilities "trip", "tangle", and "root" (all of which prevent enemies from escaping) currently useless.

Players try to get their opponent's health points (HP) down to zero before their opponents do the same to them. Some monsters have regenerative abilities making them more challenging to kill. Players can also use potions to restore HP or MP (mana points), or use an unlockable defensive ability which gives an 80% chance to block,dodge or parry their opponents' attacks. Another unlockable option gives the players a chance to immobilize the opponent. Some opponents, however, have a chance of resisting the attack.

About "Portgas D. Ace"

Portgas D. Ace is the older brother of Monkey D. Luffy.Ace left his hometown 3 years before Luffy when he was already very strong and skilled. He was able to beat his brother Luffy in every fight they had, despite Luffy having the power of a Devil Fruit already. He was also trained by Garp, who is responsible for training Luffy to his current level of power. Another note of Ace's strength was his ability to take Blackbeard's punches (without resorting to his Devil Fruit powers) and being able to immediately retaliate, as noted by Van Auger, making his status as a Whitebeard Pirates commander well-deserved. He also carries a knife which he used once on a seaman who was offending Whitebeard in the mini-chapter.

Ace has eaten the Devil Fruit Mera Mera no Mi , a Logia or elemental type fruit, giving him pyrokinetic abilities and his reputation as "Fire Fist Ace" . Ace also displays his immense power by destroying a handful of Baroque Works ships with ease. For some reason, Ace does not seem to mind his inability to swim, despite the risk that destroying the Billions' ships could have left him in the ocean. Also when he turned up on Drum Island, that day no snow fell at all on the island.

Ace was also later given a mini-arc in the chapter titles of the manga where, after parting ways with Buggy's crew, he infiltrates a Marine ship to deliver a letter to the parents of a milk maiden who saved his life.

Despite all the efforts from Shanks to convince Whitebeard to recall Ace, Ace meets up with Blackbeard and engages him in battle.Blackbeard triumphs and presumably turns the defeated Ace over to the government. Ace was sent to the worst prison in the One Piece World, Impel Down.

Although never directly finding out what happened to Ace, Luffy discovered the truth in another way. After discovering about biblicards from pirate Lola the Proposer, he discovered that Ace's paper was the same. But as Luffy stared at it, he saw it burning, a sign that Ace's life-force is slowly fading away (what this means exactly is unknown).