Neocron

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Neocron
developer Reactor Media
Publisher CDV
10tacle
Designer Martin J. Schwiezer
First title Neocron (2002)
Last title Neocron Evolution 2.2 (2007)
Platform (s) Windows
Genre (s) MMORPG / FPS
information Tagline "You'll Never Die Alone" Approved
by the USK from 12 years.

Neocron is a computer game series belonging to the MMORPG / FPS genre and created by Reakktor Media under the direction of Martin Schwiezer. The game takes place exclusively on servers commercially operated by the developer, which simulate a post-apocalyptic world in which up to several hundred players can move at the same time. The developer specifies cyberpunk as the genre , although many elements of classic science fiction (high technology) and dark future (end times) can also be found in the game.

Naming

Etymologically, the term is made up of the two words neo ( Greek new or young) and chronos ( Greek time), which means, freely translated, “the new age”.

world

The Neocron game world is divided into sectors ("zones") of the same size. A zone change is therefore not fluid, but always requires synchronization with the world server. Depending on the terrain, the players can reach each area on roads (or cross-country), later the areas can also be explored with vehicles (ground / air). The areas differ in their vegetation and texture. There are swamp-like areas with bodies of water as well as extensive desert areas, heavily overgrown forests and areas in which life is apparently no longer possible, so that only robots are there.

The sectors contain monsters ("mobs") that are intended for quests, farming objects and gaining experience ("EXP"). The difficulty level of the monsters is different, simple monsters are usually found near the big cities, while very strong monsters can be found in remote areas.

Abandoned outposts ("outposts", "OPs") are scattered across the map. These facilities can be conquered by clans (groups of players), whereby this clan, the faction belonging to the clan or every player from all factions receives a certain bonus on a talent ("skill"). The bonus distribution depends on the outpost settings chosen by the owner. The outposts are an important part of Neocron's combat system, especially for the "endgame" of the MMO.

Cities

In Neocron 2.2, there are large cities that players spend most of their time in: Neocron City, Tech Haven, the Canyon, and the Military Base. These cities are divided into sectors, they offer merchants, faction headquarters, player apartments, level locations and meeting places. At the beginning of Neocron 2 there was the city of Dome of York ("DOY") in which the same facilities were located. In the further course of the background story of the role-playing game, the Dome of York was destroyed by a bomb and burned out. The ruins of the Dome of York are still accessible, but all facilities have been "destroyed" and existing player apartments have been moved to Neocron.

Neocron City
The city of Neocron is located in the south and consists of four large sectors, which are also divided into smaller zones. Each large sector corresponds to a different disposition. Players can have their own apartments in each sector.

The Plaza Sector is the trading place within Neocron where players offer their services. The Via Rosso sector is the most elegant residential area in Neocron. Here you will find the most beautiful and most expensive apartments for players. The Pepper Park Sector is designed for pleasure: it is home to strip clubs, peep shows, prostitutes, and seedy vendors in the form of non-player characters ("NPC"). The outer zone is defined by warehouses and machine buildings.

After the destruction of the Dome of York, most of the faction headquarters (except for those of the Tech Angels and the Twilight Guardian) are again in Neocron.

Tech Haven
About in the middle of the world map lies the research city Tech Haven underground. While in Neocron different factions have dominance over some sectors, only one faction owns Tech Haven. Tech Haven residents are committed to research and try as best they can to remain neutral, but tend to rebellion and are thus enemies with some of the factions in Neocron City.

Military Base
In the north is the huge fortress of the mercenaries ("City Mercs"), the Military Base. The interior extends over several floors and the facilities are mostly limited to the bare minimum.

The Canyon
In the east is the canyon, which is also only ruled by a single faction ("Twilight Guardian"). The canyon is considered to be the base of the rebels fighting against Neocron's government and its allies.

Character development

The play figure, also known as “runner” in Neocron slang, can be selected from four fundamentally different character classes. The available repertoire ranges from the strong and robust super soldier ("Tank") to the intelligent and skillful spy ("Spy") to the mentally overdeveloped and physically underdeveloped "Psi Monk". Last but not least, as in almost all role-playing games, there is an all-rounder ("private eye") who has something of all abilities, but cannot bring any of them to the maximum level of 100. However, a Private Eye with sufficient skills and skill can hold its own just like any other class.

The player also has a variety of professions available, some of which are dependent on the chosen class. Certain professions can only be mastered by one person at a time. From the hacker who delves into the alternative world of cyberspace (the "Hacknet"), to the technician who researches or manufactures all kinds of objects and (above all) weapons, to the common soldier who fights for his clan in the Wasteland's dispersed outposts are fighting.

Factions

During character creation, the player must choose a faction. The groups differ in their philosophy and their behavior towards other groups. A character can only belong to one faction, but he can collect sympathy points from other factions if he decides to switch to them. The factions are either friendly, hostile or neutral towards each other.

City Admin
The City Admin is responsible for the administration of the city of Neocron and is responsible for the protection of its citizens. It achieves this through the so-called CopBots, which patrol the inner sectors of Neocron. CopBots are robots equipped with ethics chips that exercise executive power. They are judge and jury in one person and can execute offenders immediately.

Tangent Technologies Incorporated
A weapons manufacturer whose product range includes everything from pistols to body armor to heavy weapons. In addition to normal gun vests, it also produces so-called power armors. This is full-body armor that completely encloses the wearer and significantly increases their abilities and powers of resistance. The products are of high quality and correspondingly expensive. Tangent sells its products to anyone who can raise enough credits.

Biotech Industries Incorporated
When it comes to human engineering, biotech comes first. The company offers everything to make your own body stronger and more efficient. Artificial eyes, improved hearts and brain implants are just a small glimpse of its range.

ProtoPharm Incorporated
The company primarily manufactures medicines. It also produces performance-enhancing preparations that enable the player to run faster or to increase certain skills for a short time.

Neocron Exploration Technology Incorporated
NEXT is a transport and vehicle construction company and operates the so-called hovercabs in Neocron. These are trams that connect the sectors in Neocron. In addition to this civil aspect, NEXT has also committed itself to military use. In addition to civilian ground and air vehicles, it also manufactures military versions of these.

Diamond Real Estate
The majority of the buildings in Neocron City are owned by the property management company Diamond Real Estate.

Tsunami Syndicate
This organization rules over prostitution in Pepper Park, as well as gambling.

Black Dragon Clan
A company that operates in the black market. The clan deals in illegal drugs, weapons, real estate and everything that promises profit.

Brotherhood of Crahn
Although there are no religions in the world of Neocron, the Brotherhood's followers are the only exception. They worship a person named Crahn in their religious madness. Although Crahn disappeared a long time ago, his followers believe fanatically in his return.

Fallen Angels
The Fallen Angels, also known as Tech Angels, rule the underground city of Tech Haven. They are dedicated to research and their members have a higher percentage of artificial improvements than other factions.

City Mercs
The Mercs are mercenaries and offer their services to almost everyone, provided they have the necessary funds. The base of the City Mercs is the Military Base.

Twilight Guardian
A rebel organization operating from the Canyon to the east. Their declared main enemy is the Neocron government, but also all who follow it. The group mainly carries out terrorist attacks in the form of bomb threats and murders.

Game perspective

The player can see the world from the first person perspective and a third person perspective . The actions of the character take place as usual in a first person shooter by aiming with the crosshair, i.e. without moving the mouse pointer.

Neocron 2

Neocron 2 is originally announced as an expansion for Neocron "Neocron: Beyond Dome of York".

However, the developer and publisher ultimately decided to publish it as an independent product under the title "Neocron 2: Beyond Dome of York" for reasons of marketing and the significantly increased scope of expansion. Accordingly, it is not necessary to own the original game (which is usually characteristic of an expansion). The biggest changes include the new city "Dome Of York", the new gameplay and an extensive facelift of existing areas and models. In addition, a number of measures to prevent and log cheats and exploits have been implemented. Almost half a year, after the release of the sequel, the servers for Neocron 1 were shut down due to the difficult maintainability and the low player load. Since free servers are prohibited by the manufacturer, there is no longer any possibility to play this version.

Some of the changes were heavily criticized by parts of the player base - for example, it was criticized that the game had lost much of its original action potential due to the extensive changes to the faction structure.

ReaKKtor released a patch with Neocron Evolution 2.2 in May 2007 , which meant a redesign of the combat system, then a complete revision of the faction structure appeared in November of the same year, which is very similar to that of Neocron 1.

The most serious change in this patch , however, was the city ​​"Dome of York", which was introduced since the expansion Neocron 2: Beyond Dome of York and which is called "DoY" for short by the players. Since its inception, the “DoY” has been a city with shops and apartments, which also housed some factions and the “runners” belonging to the factions. With the patch Neocron Evolution 2.2 in May 2007, however, all headquarters of the factions and all apartments of the resident "runners" from the "Dome of York" were relocated to Neocron, TechHaven and the Canyon; Furthermore, all shops and all but one of the “gene replicators” (a kind of beam station) were removed. The "DoY" was converted into a dungeon with a lot of NPC enemies ("mobs"). Furthermore, a mission has been added which can only be mastered in a large, strong group.

developer

The German company Reakktor Media developed Neocron and Neocron 2. The publisher 10tacle marketed the game in 2007.

Free servers are not allowed and will be punished according to the Neocron terms of use. ReaKKtor Media GmbH is not planning any release for the development of a server emulator. Nevertheless, TinNS is used to program on an emulator.

Bugs

In addition to synchronization errors that separate the client and server, there are errors in the skill and combat system, in the enemy AI and in the game's economic system. The game also contains exploits and errors in the game mechanics. The active use of exploits will be punished by Reakktor Media GmbH, as is done in other online role-playing games from other manufacturers, in accordance with the applicable terms and conditions and game rules (e.g. permanent exclusion from the game).

Additional Information

  • According to the manufacturer REAKKTOR MEDIA GmbH, Neocron will continue to be operated and developed despite the insolvency of the parent company 10tacle AG
  • ultimate networX is a free development team founded in 2007, which offers authenticated utilities and services for Neocron
  • The Neocron developer Reakktor became independent again after the bankruptcy of 10tacle , developed the space MMO Black Prophecy in cooperation with the browser game marketer Gamigo and thought about another sequel - Neocron 3.
  • REAKKTOR MEDIA GmbH has been insolvent again since February 15, 2012, but Neocron's future should continue to be secured.
  • NEOCRON is currently operated and further developed by the former volunteer team, so the game is undergoing active development again.

Community projects

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Reakktor Media GmbH ( Memento from June 28, 2009 in the Internet Archive )
  2. ↑ Reakktor's rules of conduct 13, 14, 16 and 17 ( Memento from December 1, 2006 in the Internet Archive )