Pardus (computer game)

Infobox CVG
title = Pardus


developer = Bayer&Szell OEG
publisher = Bayer&Szell OEG
released = September 14 2004
genre = MMORPG Space simulation Browser game
modes = Multiplayer
ratings = Unrated
platforms = Browser
requirements = internet access mouse keyboard

"Pardus" is a free, graphical browser-based MMORPG set in a futuristic universe where players strive to gain wealth, fame and power in space. It is a persistent-universe, open-ended game with a dynamic, player-driven economy, enabling players to pursue any profession they choose. Players travel through hundreds of "sectors" or solar systems while trading, building or battling with NPCs or other players. There are dozens of spacecraft models in Pardus, which can be customized with different weapons, armor and other equipment.

All players must complete a tutorial before beginning the game. Though the main game is in English, the tutorial is also available German, Italian, Polish, Portuguese and Spanish. [cite web
author = www.pardus.at
url = http://www.pardus.at/index.php?section=guide_tutoriallessons
title = Tutorial Lessons ] For the duration of the tutorial and a period of time after, a player has access to "Guide Chat", in which experienced players make themselves available to assist newer players with problems or questions about the game. [cite web
author = Honolulu Star Bulletin
url = http://starbulletin.com/2007/05/08/features/story01.html
title = Click with online crowd? Play well with others? Try these games ]

Partially inspired by classic computer games such as Elite and Master of Orion II, Pardus was developed and published by Austrian company Bayer&Szell OEG. Alpha testing of the game began September 2004 and Pardus "went gold" October 1, 2006. [cite web
author = Stratics
url = http://www.stratics.com/content/interviews/general/interviews/pardus_10_2006.php
title = Pardus - Exclusive Interview With Werner Bayer ] The developers are still active and regularly update the game with new features and improvements to game mechanics. [cite web
author = Stratics
url = http://www.stratics.com/content/hocs/pardus/12_03_06.php
title = Voyage Century Online ]

Background

and raiding other players.

There are several different servers, or "universes", on which a player may create characters, but only one character per server is allowed; a rule which is strictly enforced. [cite web
author = www.pardus.at
url = http://www.pardus.at/index.php?section=rules
title = Pardus Rules ]

Races

Upon completion of the tutorial a player must choose from one of four races: Humans, Rashkir, Ska'ari or Keldon. Each race has a specialization bonus to skills, ship and/or equipment, as well as a starting homeworld appropriate to their species. Homeworlds may later be changed within the game. [cite web
author = www.pardus.at
url = http://www.pardus.at/index.php?section=manual_twop000
title = Pardus Manual ]

Factions

There are three factions in the Pardus universe: the Federation, the Empire, and the Union. The Federation consists largely of Humans and Rashkir. The Empire consists of mostly Ska'ari and Keldon. The Union, the most recently added of the factions, consists primarily of Rashkir and Keldon. Each faction has a technological specialization, which gives players belonging to a faction access to unique ships and equipment unavailable to players who do not belong to that faction.

A long history of feuds and betrayals has created the current Factions; outbreaks of war between them are frequent. Outside of Federation, Empire and Union space there are Neutral Zones which no faction lays claim to.

Basic Gameplay

Pardus is browser-based and require no downloads to play. [cite web
author = www.pardus.at
url = http://www.pardus.at/index.php?section=about
title = About Pardus ] From the main interface Players have a view of the local system they are in, plus various screens detailing the buildings in the area, the contents of their ship, the skills of their character and so forth.

A critically important aspect of the game is the Action Point system - almost all actions require Action Points (or APs), which regenerate at a rate of 24 APs every 6 minutes throughout the day, up to a maximum of 5000 stored APs. [cite web
author = www.pardus.at
url = http://www.pardus.at/index.php?section=manual_mech001
title = Pardus Manual ] This prevents players who stay in the game all day from gaining a significant advantage over people who only log in once or twice a day for a short time. There are certain skills and in-game items which grant a limited number of extra APs, and players with a Premium Account may accumulate up to 5500 APS instead of 5000.

There are several ways to directly improve a player's character in the game. One of the most common ways is trading, which involves buying commodities and transporting them to another area where they can be sold for a higher price, often benefiting the area as a whole. Fighting NPCs improves a character's various combat attributes. Collecting raw resources improves collecting skills, and practicing hacking or cloaking enables a player to better perform those actions in the future.

hips and Equipment

There are dozens of ship models available in Pardus; additionally each ship may be outfitted with various weapons, shields and other equipment. Ships and equipment available to a player depend on the player's faction or syndicate, faction rank, competency level and experience points. Ship choice also depends on what the player intends to use it for, fighting, trading, or a mix of both. [cite web
author = Maxisoft Pardus Encyclopedia
url = http://pardus.maxisoft.org/ships.html
title = Ships & Equipment ]

Combat

Combat in Pardus is turn-based; the player chooses how many rounds to battle against an opponent. The number of hits and damage per hit each round is based on the combat skills and equipment of the character. Luck also plays an important role in combat. Some NPCs may hold a player for additional rounds of combat after a player tries to retreat.

Economy

The economy in Pardus is dynamic and relies entirely on player actions. [cite web
author = Stratics
url = http://www.stratics.com/content/exclusives/pardus/pardusreview.php
title = Pardus - The Future is Here! ] Several times each day all planets, starbases and buildings in the game consume and produce a variety of commodities, provided certain upkeep needs are met. There are dozens of types of commodities available, ranging from low-tech raw materials such as Food, Water, Energy, Ore, and Metal, to high-end finished products such as Droids and Hand Weapons. Some illegal commodities, such as slaves and drugs, also exist.

Extracting Raw Materials

Raw materials can be harvested in space. Each tile, or "field", has a raw material associated with it; for example, open space contains hydrogen fuel, and asteroid fields contain ore. Each field holds a maximum of 500 tons (t) of its respective material. However, the more a field is harvested, the slower the field regenerates, and the less can be harvested from the field unless it is given sufficient time to regenerate. This often leads to fields that are "strip-mined", meaning raw materials are very scarce or in insufficient quantities to be harvested. Strip-mined fields are one of the most common difficulties encountered by players in the more populated areas of the universe. [cite web
author = Stratics
url = http://www.stratics.com/content/interviews/general/interviews/pardus_10_2006.php
title = Pardus - Exclusive Interview With Werner Bayer ]

Constructing Buildings

Players can constructed a variety of buildings that produce a variety of different goods at certain intervals during the day. All buildings require certain resources to be available within the building in order to produce goods; the type of materials needed and goods produced depend on the type of building. Players may stock their own buildings, or they may leave their buildings open to trade with other players; likewise, they may collect the produced goods themselves or leave those goods for sale for other players to consider purchasing.

Buildings are classified as "Low-level" (including asteroid mines and fuel collectors), "Mid-level" (including Electronics Facilities and Breweries), and "High-level" (including Hand Weapons Factories and Military Outposts.) Each have their own initial start-up costs and their unique necessary upkeep, some high-end buildings require a certain amount of experience or APs played before construction is allowed. [cite web
author = Maxisoft Pardus Encyclopedia
url = http://pardus.maxisoft.org/buildings.html
title = Buildings ]

A few buildings, such as Drug Farms and Dark Domes, though lucrative, are illegal in faction space and will cause the player reputation loss if built within faction borders.

tarbases

Starbases are important trade centers in areas where no planets are to be found and are a very important part of the economy in Pardus. Player-owned Starbases, though generally more difficult to maintain than other buildings, can make their owners a considerable amount of money if well placed.

An important function of Starbases is providing players with a place to repair their vessels, provided the Starbase owner builds a repair facility onto it. Starbases may also produce spacecraft, which the owner may then sell to other players. Unlike most other buildings, Starbases may be transferred to another player, and even conquered and taken forcefully. Starbases also play a key role in inter-faction wars.

Trading, Jobs and Missions

One of the simplest methods of obtaining wealth in Pardus is trading. Players buy goods from a planet, starbase or building, then travel to another to sell it in a "buy low sell high" fashion. Many players establish trade routes between certain buildings which they maintain regularly.

Planets and Starbases hold randomly generated missions that replenish at certain points in the day. There are a variety of missions; for instance killing NPCs (non-player-characters), delivering packages, or transporting VIPs. When a mission is completed successfully, the player receives a reward of credits (the in-game money); if the mission was a faction mission, the player will receive an amount of rank increase, or if the mission was a standard (non-faction) mission, the player will receive an amount of "competency" instead. There are also special faction missions available only during times of war.

yndicates and Alliances

In addition to Factions, some players are given an option to join a Syndicate, depending on the player's reputation. Syndicates are considerably smaller than factions and do not claim territories, but they do grant the player access to unique spacecraft and equipment not available to those not belonging to the syndicate.There are also player-made alliances in Pardus; many alliances claim a section of space by building a blockade of military outposts. The players and their buildings behind the outposts are then safe from all but the most determined attackers. [cite web
author = Report-Verlag GmbH & Co. KG
url = http://www.report.at/artikel.asp?mid=4&kid=3&aid=13745
title = Im Test: Pardus (Deutsch) ]

Player Interactions

An important aspect of Pardus is interaction between players. Most players join a faction and one of the many player-made alliances, which range from just a few members to dozens. Chat channels and forums are available for trading, alliance discussions, and other topics. Players often plan economies together in order to produce maximum profits, or can attack or ambush targets together that they would not be able to defeat alone. [cite web
author = Stratics
url = http://www.stratics.com/content/interviews/general/interviews/pardus_10_2006.php
title = Pardus - Exclusive Interview With Werner Bayer ]

PvP Combat

Player versus player (PvP) combat is frequent in Pardus. Like combat with an NPC, PvP combat is turn-based. Players may also set ambushes that are triggered by other players, even if the ambusher is offline. PvP combat is particularly intense during Faction wars; frequently alliances will declare war on each other as well.

Raiding, Piracy, Bounty Hunting and Smuggling

Pardus provides several means for a player to be a "bad guy". With the proper equipment, a player may 'raid' another player's spacecraft or building, a sometimes quite profitable exercise. Some players take pirating to an extreme and attempt to destroy anyone they can; these pirates often get bountied. A bounty can be placed on any player or building by the system or by other players. If a player kills a bountied player or destroys a bountied building, s/he will receive the sum of all bounties that were placed on that particular individual or that building.

Smuggling is a risky but often very profitable venture. Illegal commodities may be sold to other players or sold to a planet or starbase with a black market. There is a chance a player will be detected by the authorities when selling to a black market, however, which might result in a bounty if a bribe is unsuccessful.

Premium Accounts

As of October 1st 2006, Pardus implemented premium accounts which, for $14.95 (USD) per quarter, give players access to new features and areas unavailable to non-paying players, plus a premium-only server. [cite web
author = www.pardus.at
url = http://www.pardus.at/index.php?section=premiumsignup
title = Pardus Premium Signup ]

Premium accounts give access to a unique cluster, the Pardus cluster, consisting of 21 sectors. Each sector is owned by one of the factions, providing benefits to players belonging to the owning faction; however the ownership of any of these sectors can change based on player activities. Only one sector in the Pardus cluster remains neutral at all times, the central Pardus sector. [cite web
author = www.pardus.at
url = http://www.pardus.at/index.php?section=premiumfeatures
title = Pardus Premium Features ] The Pardus cluster is also home to a range of NPC monsters not found in outside clusters.

Players may get a free premium account with the Pardus "referral program". [cite web
author = www.pardus.at
url = http://www.pardus.at/index.php?section=premiumreferral
title = Pardus Premium Referral ]

References

External Links

* [http://www.pardus.at/ Official Pardus website]
* [http://pardus.maxisoft.org/ Maxisoft Pardus Encyclopedia]
* [http://www.pardusdv.com/ Pardus Data Vault]
* [http://pardus.elwiki.com/ Pardusian Database]
* [http://www.thebluesuncorporation.com/pardusmap/universe.html HTML (online) map of the Pardus universe]
* [http://www.stud.u-szeged.hu/Hajnal.Marton/ Microsoft Excel format map of the Pardus universe]
* [http://home.arcor.de/kidaru/ Microsoft Excel Table, Sector Planning Tool for Pardus]