Ten Ton Hammer - Taking MMO Gamers to the Next Level!

HY: We’re not quite down to skin and hair color yet in the current version, but hey… you never know.  But the character customization is definitely much deeper than that available in any other such online multiplayer FPS to date. 

To give you a brief run-through of the customization options, when you start the game, you can choose 1 of 4 base character models.  (We’ll be adding many more character models as the months roll on.)  From there, you can customize gear for your body, which includes head equipment such as helmets and bandannas, face gear such sunglasses and gas masks, overall uniforms such as different camouflages as well as armor vests and rigs.

Combat Arms will be a far cry from MapleStory (pictured above) in both content and game play.

And that’s just for your body.  Each character has four default slots for different weapons: primary weapons such as assault rifles, SMGs, machine guns, and sniper rifles; a secondary slot for pistols and shotguns, a melee weapon slot, and a support item slot for grenades and miscellaneous items.  If you have a backpack, which gives you additional weapon slots, you can take even more weapon or equipment items into battle.  To make things fair, larger backpacks give players who use them a movement penalty, and games can also be created where they are disallowed.

Finally, once you’ve determined your weapons loadout, you can enter the Mod Shop and begin attaching weapon mods to your guns.  You can attach suppressors, scopes, extended magazines, and such.  And with each month, we’ll be constantly adding new weapons, equipment, and gear items.  So even after just a few months down the line, this game will look a lot different than it does now after our recent official launch.

HY: We haven’t officially announced when we’re beginning commercialization or how we’re doing it but I can give you some of the guidelines we’ll be taking.

As I mentioned previously, weapons are the core of any FPS so we will not be selling weapons – all of them will be obtainable in game by everyone.  We will probably eventually sell weapons that are skinned differently – but there will be no functional difference between those weapons and the base weapons that any player can acquire.  We’ll also be selling other cosmetic items such as different character models, character customization options, and different clothing items.  Being a mercenary means being able to show your individual style, so we intend to accommodate our players in this fashion.

Aside from cosmetic features, we’ll be selling items geared toward player convenience or enhancing community features.  As soon as our Black Market (Combat Arms’ Cash Shop) opens, we’ll reveal more about what these are.

HY: Our in-game Messenger makes it easy for you to create a friends’ list from people you’ve played with, and then down the line, invite them to a game room you’re in or join them where they’re playing.  Our Clan system allows you to create your own clan in-game, without having to resort to managing an external website or other mechanism to coordinate members – and find like-minded Clans to battle against. We are focused on adding features to make it easy to find people to play with in public game rooms, especially the right people, but we have private rooms as well if you just want to play with your friends.  Right now, players have a web profile they’ll be able to build up based upon their in-game performance in order to distinguish themselves – and we’ll be constantly adding more ways for them to do this.

HY: Yes, on our official website, and we will be adding a lot more rankings, believe me [laughs]. I think our web development team hates me for this, actually.  But this goes back to the previous question, and is one of the ways where players can create a reputation for themselves.

HY: That’s easy – the customization and community features, most certainly.  Plus the core gameplay is different, giving it a different, much faster feel than most other FPSs, which is something that veteran FPS players can very easily distinguish.

HY: Just that for the many of you already playing it, this is just the beginning.  We’re excited to see how our player base will react to the content we’ll be adding in the coming months.

And as for the rest of your readers, they should come check us out, especially if they’ve never tried an FPS, or maybe had a bad previous experience with another FPS, or maybe are just simply looking for another FPS with deeper features.  After all, Combat Arms is free to play, so hey, you’ve got nothing to lose [smiles].