Terra Militaris
Encyclopedia
Terra Militaris is a massively multiplayer online
browser-based strategy game developed by Chinese developer Suzhou Snail Electronic Co., Ltd. (Snail Games). It is published in the United States by its U.S. publishing division, Snail Games USA
. Published in the Europe by gPotato
Europe, the online game portal of Gala Networks Europe. It was released on November 27, 2010 in Europe.
, Egypt
, Greek
, Persia and China
. Each race has different benefits for a starting player, such as Rome’s units possessing higher than average health, or China’s construction time being shorter than average. Further civilization-specific units are found later in the game, like the Egyptian Anubis
Chariot or the Persian War Elephant
. After choosing and naming a character, players will have the option to take a short tutorial to familiarise themselves with the game. Tasks are appointed to players throughout the game to guide them in learning the game’s mechanics and complexities. Players start with a small army and a high quality hero to command them.
Players start the game with a tiny settlement in the style of their chosen civilization from the character creation process, but will be able to expand their territory, develop their city and build new settlements as the game progresses. Initially, within the starting city, there is only a Town Hall, a Barracks and a Civilian House. Through tutorial quests, players will learn how to construct additional buildings, upgrade them, train units for their armies and research skills that will improve various aspects of their empire. Each building has a maximum level of 20, and requires progressively more time and resources to construct. There are five resources in Terra Militaris from which construction flows: Food, Lumber, Stone, Metal, and Gold. These will naturally generate within your civilization’s borders, but their rates can be augmented through research and upgrades.
Heroes are the second main element of the game next to building and upgrading one’s civilization. Heroes act as the leaders of your empire’s armies and are a very powerful unit in their own right. They are used to traverse the world map and can be used to plunder, tax and scout other cities. Furthermore, they are used in ranked arena battles and to conquer neutral territories. These heroes, in classic RPG
style, can be levelled up through gaining experience points from battle and have an inventory full of slots in which to equip armour, weapons and accessories.
Terra Militaris is an MMORTS, and a server can have between several hundred and several thousand active players. Like most MMORTSs, Terra Militaris is a persistent world
. However, there are events that take place in instanced environments such as lair, arena and neutral city battles.
monsters and armies in order to gain items and experience for their heroes, to raid neutral territories and shrines, and to attack, or defend themselves from, other players. As heroes become more powerful, they are able to increase the size of their standing army and the strength of their troops. Heroes also possess unique skills that can give armies a boost in battle.
Battles can be controlled manually by players, or they can choose to let them play out automatically; victory or defeat decided upon through AI
. A player can join or leave a battle at any point. Once combat begins, there is a brief waiting period during which players have the choice to command the combat themselves or to relinquish control. After this players will have 3 minutes to defeat their enemy. Depending on who, what or where you are fighting, a hero will receive experience as well as resources or equipment. If an army is defeated, units can be retrained in one’s city but heroes themselves never permanently “die”.
to achieve any lasting conquests on the world map. Players joining a guild
will have the ability to wage war on neutral territories, build new cities and campsites and campaign against the other civilizations. In the future, guilds will be able to vie for control of “Famous Cities” such as Berlin
, Alexandria
and Milan
.
Massively multiplayer online game
A massively multiplayer online game is a multiplayer video game which is capable of supporting hundreds or thousands of players simultaneously. By necessity, they are played on the Internet, and usually feature at least one persistent world. They are, however, not necessarily games played on...
browser-based strategy game developed by Chinese developer Suzhou Snail Electronic Co., Ltd. (Snail Games). It is published in the United States by its U.S. publishing division, Snail Games USA
Snail Games USA
Snail Games USA is based in Los Angeles, California, USA and is a division of Snail Game headquartered in Suzhou, China. The U.S...
. Published in the Europe by gPotato
GPotato
gPotato, is a free multiplayer game portal website operated regionally by subsidiaries of Japan based Gala Inc. gPotato game portals are in South Korea, Japan, North America, Europe and Brazil...
Europe, the online game portal of Gala Networks Europe. It was released on November 27, 2010 in Europe.
Gameplay
Players are first asked to choose one of four ancient civilizations to play as. The choice is between the historical nations of RomeAncient Rome
Ancient Rome was a thriving civilization that grew on the Italian Peninsula as early as the 8th century BC. Located along the Mediterranean Sea and centered on the city of Rome, it expanded to one of the largest empires in the ancient world....
, Egypt
Ancient Egypt
Ancient Egypt was an ancient civilization of Northeastern Africa, concentrated along the lower reaches of the Nile River in what is now the modern country of Egypt. Egyptian civilization coalesced around 3150 BC with the political unification of Upper and Lower Egypt under the first pharaoh...
, Greek
Ancient Greece
Ancient Greece is a civilization belonging to a period of Greek history that lasted from the Archaic period of the 8th to 6th centuries BC to the end of antiquity. Immediately following this period was the beginning of the Early Middle Ages and the Byzantine era. Included in Ancient Greece is the...
, Persia and China
China
Chinese civilization may refer to:* China for more general discussion of the country.* Chinese culture* Greater China, the transnational community of ethnic Chinese.* History of China* Sinosphere, the area historically affected by Chinese culture...
. Each race has different benefits for a starting player, such as Rome’s units possessing higher than average health, or China’s construction time being shorter than average. Further civilization-specific units are found later in the game, like the Egyptian Anubis
Anubis
Anubis is the Greek name for a jackal-headed god associated with mummification and the afterlife in ancient Egyptian religion. In the ancient Egyptian language, Anubis is known as Inpu . According to the Akkadian transcription in the Amarna letters, Anubis' name was vocalized as Anapa...
Chariot or the Persian War Elephant
War elephant
A war elephant was an elephant trained and guided by humans for combat. Their main use was to charge the enemy, trampling them and breaking their ranks. A division of war elephants is known as elephantry....
. After choosing and naming a character, players will have the option to take a short tutorial to familiarise themselves with the game. Tasks are appointed to players throughout the game to guide them in learning the game’s mechanics and complexities. Players start with a small army and a high quality hero to command them.
Players start the game with a tiny settlement in the style of their chosen civilization from the character creation process, but will be able to expand their territory, develop their city and build new settlements as the game progresses. Initially, within the starting city, there is only a Town Hall, a Barracks and a Civilian House. Through tutorial quests, players will learn how to construct additional buildings, upgrade them, train units for their armies and research skills that will improve various aspects of their empire. Each building has a maximum level of 20, and requires progressively more time and resources to construct. There are five resources in Terra Militaris from which construction flows: Food, Lumber, Stone, Metal, and Gold. These will naturally generate within your civilization’s borders, but their rates can be augmented through research and upgrades.
Heroes are the second main element of the game next to building and upgrading one’s civilization. Heroes act as the leaders of your empire’s armies and are a very powerful unit in their own right. They are used to traverse the world map and can be used to plunder, tax and scout other cities. Furthermore, they are used in ranked arena battles and to conquer neutral territories. These heroes, in classic RPG
Role-playing video game
Role-playing video games are a video game genre with origins in pen-and-paper role-playing games such as Dungeons & Dragons, using much of the same terminology, settings and game mechanics. The player in RPGs controls one character, or several adventuring party members, fulfilling one or many quests...
style, can be levelled up through gaining experience points from battle and have an inventory full of slots in which to equip armour, weapons and accessories.
Terra Militaris is an MMORTS, and a server can have between several hundred and several thousand active players. Like most MMORTSs, Terra Militaris is a persistent world
Persistent world
A persistent world is a virtual world that continues to exist even after a user exits the world and that user-made changes to its state are, to some extent, permanent...
. However, there are events that take place in instanced environments such as lair, arena and neutral city battles.
Combat
Combat is central to Terra Militaris. Players are required to destroy NPCNon-player character
A non-player character , sometimes known as a non-person character or non-playable character, in a game is any fictional character not controlled by a player. In electronic games, this usually means a character controlled by the computer through artificial intelligence...
monsters and armies in order to gain items and experience for their heroes, to raid neutral territories and shrines, and to attack, or defend themselves from, other players. As heroes become more powerful, they are able to increase the size of their standing army and the strength of their troops. Heroes also possess unique skills that can give armies a boost in battle.
Battles can be controlled manually by players, or they can choose to let them play out automatically; victory or defeat decided upon through AI
Ai
AI, A.I., Ai, or ai may refer to:- Computers :* Artificial intelligence, a branch of computer science* Ad impression, in online advertising* .ai, the ISO Internet 2-letter country code for Anguilla...
. A player can join or leave a battle at any point. Once combat begins, there is a brief waiting period during which players have the choice to command the combat themselves or to relinquish control. After this players will have 3 minutes to defeat their enemy. Depending on who, what or where you are fighting, a hero will receive experience as well as resources or equipment. If an army is defeated, units can be retrained in one’s city but heroes themselves never permanently “die”.
Gameplay Goals
There are a majority of goals for a player to achieve depending on his/her gameplay style. One player may wish to possess the most territory of any civilization and thus will focus on expanding their influence through temples and worship. Other players may wish to ally themselves with a guild and conquer the most territory and plunder enemy cities. Still other players may wish to pit themselves one-on-one against players in the arena and achieve the highest ranking.Guilds
Terra Militaris requires the participation as a member of a guildGuild
A guild is an association of craftsmen in a particular trade. The earliest types of guild were formed as confraternities of workers. They were organized in a manner something between a trade union, a cartel, and a secret society...
to achieve any lasting conquests on the world map. Players joining a guild
Guild
A guild is an association of craftsmen in a particular trade. The earliest types of guild were formed as confraternities of workers. They were organized in a manner something between a trade union, a cartel, and a secret society...
will have the ability to wage war on neutral territories, build new cities and campsites and campaign against the other civilizations. In the future, guilds will be able to vie for control of “Famous Cities” such as Berlin
Berlin
Berlin is the capital city of Germany and is one of the 16 states of Germany. With a population of 3.45 million people, Berlin is Germany's largest city. It is the second most populous city proper and the seventh most populous urban area in the European Union...
, Alexandria
Alexandria
Alexandria is the second-largest city of Egypt, with a population of 4.1 million, extending about along the coast of the Mediterranean Sea in the north central part of the country; it is also the largest city lying directly on the Mediterranean coast. It is Egypt's largest seaport, serving...
and Milan
Milan
Milan is the second-largest city in Italy and the capital city of the region of Lombardy and of the province of Milan. The city proper has a population of about 1.3 million, while its urban area, roughly coinciding with its administrative province and the bordering Province of Monza and Brianza ,...
.
Reception
- Terra Militaris received a rating of 8.0 out of 10.0 on gaming website OnRPG.com.
- It was nominated by GamingXP.com as one of their “Best of gamescom 2010”.
- Received a 12/13 rating from gaming magazine T1.
- Voted Best New Game by browsergame website BBGsite.com