General

What is Bloodline Champions?
On what platforms will Bloodline Champions be released?
Will Bloodline Champions feature a Replay function?
Will Bloodline Champions feature a Spectator function?
What separates Bloodline Champions from other competitive online games?
Will the players have the ability to be able to reconnect to a game when/if you drop?
Will there be a Single Player mode?
Will a practice mode be included?
When will the game be released?
How will you distribute the game?
Will there be Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) support in Bloodline Champions?
Will hotkeys be configurable? If so, would it be possible to bind additional mouse buttons to abilities?

What is Bloodline Champions?

Bloodline Champions is a competitive online multiplayer game for up to ten players per game, in which two teams fight for dominance.

Each player can choose between a variety of playable Bloodlines with different spectacular abilities, from the awesome strength of the Vanguard to the deceptive magic of the Harbinger.

On what platforms will Bloodline Champions be released?

The game is using the Microsoft XNA framework which means it will only run natively under Microsoft Windows, but applications using XNA are known to work very well in Wine (www.winehq.org). Supported operating systems will most likely be Windows XP, Windows Vista.

Will Bloodline Champions feature a Replay function?

Replays have a high priority and we are working on getting universally compatible replays. Replays will probably not be available at game release, but it's on our to-do list.

Will Bloodline Champions feature a Spectator function?

Another priority for us; rated games will likely have limitations to spectating due to possible cheating, but there may be extended support implemented for casual games.

What separates Bloodline Champions from other competitive online games?

Bloodline Champions is a game primarily based on player skill instead of character level. Most abilities in the game are projectile based; meaning that if your attack hits something it really hits.

There are no miss chances, no critical strike chances, no min/max damage, no chance values at all. This makes Bloodline Champions more of an action game akin to first person shooters, than its' competitors.

Will the players have the ability to be able to reconnect to a game when/if you drop?

Yes, we plan to implement a reconnect system.

Will there be a Single Player mode?

There will be a brief Tutorial and bots to play with, but no single player campaign is planned for release.

Will a practice mode be included?

We plan to add a practice mode where you can play versus bots.

When will the game be released?

The game's release date is yet to be announced. Stay tuned for more information.

How will you distribute the game?

This is yet to be decided but we will probably release it as a downloadable game for purchase online.

Will there be Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) support in Bloodline Champions?

We do indeed consider VoIP very valuable, but the official word is as of now; No. It would be too much work for too little gain when there are other adequate applications for this purpose.

Will hotkeys be configurable? If so, would it be possible to bind additional mouse buttons to abilities?

Yes and Yes.

Community

Will there be a Map Editor released for player created maps?
Will the game support custom User Interfaces made by users, or other addons/mods?
Is there any chance that community suggested Bloodlines will be added (with modifications of course)?

Will there be a Map Editor released for player created maps?

There is a Map Editor that we use internally for creating maps, but it will probably not be released to the public. A community friendly Map Editor may be released in the future, but we will not promise anything.

Will the game support custom User Interfaces made by users, or other addons/mods?

No, probably not. However we might add features & options to customize the UI if we have a good reason to do so.

Is there any chance that community suggested Bloodlines will be added (with modifications of course)?

Yes, we will take inspiration from those.

Gameplay

Can you explain how the Global Cooldown work?
What is the maximum amount of players on each team?
How does the energy system work?
How does the healing system work?
Will you implement Resolution balancing or not, as in a higher resolution screen will not display more of the map than a low resolution screen?
Will there be friendly fire, as in you hitting players on your team?
How does the different camera options work?
How does the fog of war works?

Can you explain how the Global Cooldown work?

All abilities initiate a global cooldown when used and the global cooldown is not always the same duration for every ability. The global cooldown mainly exist to prevent players from quickly chaining several skills together and is often very short at around 0.2-0.3 seconds.

What is the maximum amount of players on each team?

There is currently a maximum of five (5) players per team, totaling ten (10) players in a five (5) versus five (5) game.

How does the energy system work?

You gain energy with the successful usage of spells; i.e. the spell must affect a target for you to gain energy. There are many spells that does not count towards your energy however, and most plain buffs won't give you energy.

Healing an ally who is already at full health full health (or maxed healing quota) won't reward you any energy. There are also pure disabling spells that does not yield any energy. In order to cast your ultimate ability you need to fill your energy bar to 100%.

How does the healing system work?

At any given time a Bloodline can only be healed for 40% of its maximum health points, any healing exceeding that amount will just be wasted. Additional healing won't affect the healer's energy.

Will you implement Resolution balancing or not, as in a higher resolution screen will not display more of the map than a low resolution screen?

Using widescreen gives you a bit more vision. but it's a so small bonus we will probably keep it this way as the fog of war function conceals anything but the terrain beyond your immediate surroundings.

Will there be friendly fire, as in you hitting players on your team?

This would require a complete overhaul of the game to be remotely balanced and it will almost certainly not be implemented, due to various reasons like griefing, balancing issues and time taken to implement.

How does the different camera options work?

There are two different camera modes in Bloodline Champions, a locked camera mode and a free camera mode.

1. When using the locked camera mode the camera follows the players champion.

2. When using the free camera mode the camera follows the mouse cursor to a certain degree, granting greater vision over the battlefield.

How does the fog of war works?

Bloodline Champions uses a line-of-sight system similar to the ones used in RTS games; you cannot see enemy champions standing behind walls, trees or other types obstacles.

The sight range is also limited to a maximum range, what you cannot see is hidden in a thick fog like effect; The Fog of War.

Bloodgate

What is Bloodgate?
Will Bloodgate track player statistics?
What sort of "social" features for the in game interface do you have planned?
What sort of player rating system are you going to use for matchmaking/ranking?
Will there be a tournament style system with a skill ranking so you can play against high level players?
Will Bloodline Champions be room based or will it use a matchmaking system?

What is Bloodgate?

Bloodgate is the name of our community portal through which you access the game, track statistics, communicate with other players, gain rating and climb game ladders.

Will Bloodgate track player statistics?

Yes there will be some kind of stat tracking, but the system is still on a design stage. If everything goes as planned you should be able to see a lot of different information, for example Most Played Bloodline, Most Played Map, etc. You should also be able to see your own stats; Total Kills, Total Games Played and a lot more such as spell statistics.

What sort of "social" features for the in game interface do you have planned?

There will be friends list, chat rooms, profile, rankings and so on.

What sort of player rating system are you going to use for matchmaking/ranking?

We are currently still testing different rating systems.

Will there be a tournament style system with a skill ranking so you can play against high level players?

Probably not for the release, but it may be added later.

Will Bloodline Champions be room based or will it use a matchmaking system?

We plan to use both room based game lobbies and a matchmaking system.

Game mode

How does the Arena game mode work?
How does the Capture the Flag game mode work?
Are we going to see more game modes than Arena and Capture The Flag?

How does the Arena game mode work?

The goal of the game is to eliminate everyone in the opposing team before they eliminate your team. You play until one team has won 5 rounds. So either you play 5 rounds (5-0) or up to 9 rounds (5-4).

How does the Capture the Flag game mode work?

In this game mode you're after the other teams' flag. To score points you need to go into the other teams' base, pick up their flag and return it to your own base. You will score for example 20 points per flag capture and 1 point per kill. To win the game you need to score say 70 points.

When you are the flag carrier you will get a special setup of abilities which means that you can no longer use your normal spells. If you drop the flag you can't pick it up for a certain amount of time, and the enemy will instantly return it to their base if they manage to pick it up, so try to throw the flag to a team mate if you're in trouble.

This creates an interesting cross breed between traditional CTF and a relay race.

Are we going to see more game modes than Arena and Capture The Flag?

We are still working on and evaluating new types of game modes.

Lore

How long is an Eclipse and an Equinoctial?
Will you provide a map for the Bloodline Champions universe?

How long is an Eclipse and an Equinoctial?

An Eclipse encompasses 32 Equinoctials, and would be what we would call a Century. An equinoctial is around 1124 days long, around 3 years.

Will you provide a map for the Bloodline Champions universe?

Yes we plan to craft a world map.

Technical

Is your network code peer-to-peer or server based?
What are the system requirements for Bloodline Champions?
What pixel shader technology are you using?
Will the game support SLI/CrossFire?
Are you using static music or music that change with the game play?

Is your network code peer-to-peer or server based?

We are currently working with a server based network code.

What are the system requirements for Bloodline Champions?

The system requirements for Bloodline Champions will be released closer to the release date.

What pixel shader technology are you using?

We are using Pixel Shader 3.0.

Will the game support SLI/CrossFire?

At this moment Bloodline Champions don't support SLI or Crossfire.

Are you using static music or music that change with the game play?

We are currently using static music.

Bloodlines

Will there be any non-traditional Bloodlines added at some point? (Summons, transforms, flies, traps/turrets or auras?)
Is there any character development in Bloodline Champions?
Will the developers listen to complaints regarding overpowered Bloodlines even though the complaints come from inexperienced players?
How often are you planning to release new Bloodlines?

Will there be any non-traditional Bloodlines added at some point? (Summons, transforms, flies, traps/turrets or auras?)

Yes, there will be more unique bloodlines which have similarities to the abilities you describe. But we have to be very careful so they don't alter the game play nor the game flow negatively.

Is there any character development in Bloodline Champions?

We won't have a specific character development since we don't want to alter the gameplay. Instead we plan to have a player/account development unlocking avatars and titles, as well as an achievement system.

Will the developers listen to complaints regarding overpowered Bloodlines even though the complaints come from inexperienced players?

Yes of course.

We will try to balance the game so it's really balanced at pro level and still feel balanced for new players. Our primary focus is to balance the game on an e-sport level, but we will put a lot of effort in balancing the game for all kinds of players, both beginners and more experienced players.

How often are you planning to release new Bloodlines?

New bloodlines will be added from time to time but we will not reveal how often.

Maps

Will there be a Map Editor released for player created maps?
How many maps are you hoping to have available by release?
Are there going to be maps with different max player limitations?

Will there be a Map Editor released for player created maps?

How many maps are you hoping to have available by release?

At release date we will have at least 10 different maps.

Are there going to be maps with different max player limitations?

The maps come with recommendations regarding the number of players but beyond the 5vs5 limit there will be no restrictions. You can play 5vs5 on a 2vs2 map, or 2vs2 on a 5vs5 map.

Beta & Release

When will the beta testing start?
Where do I sign up for the beta test?
Do you have a guesstimate about when you will have US servers up?
How often can we expect to see patches after release?
How many Bloodlines will you provide at the release and how frequently do you plan to release new Bloodlines?
What sales model will Bloodline Champions use?
What is your beta strategy? Inviting all yourself or handing out keys to existing testers?
How long is this 1st beta going to last and are you planning on having more than one beta phase?
Will content be added while in beta, such as new bloodlines and maps, or will they start coming after beta is over?
How are you dealing with a North America vs. Europe Beta and Release launch?
How many beta testers do you aim to have in the first phase? And how many will you add in the following weeks?
Will there be some sort of pre-purchase-option available to the beta testers to support development?
Do you plan on shipping content regularly or do mostly major content patches?
How much do you think you guys will sell this game for at release?
Can you detail more of the criteria you'll use for selecting first-wave beta testers?
Will the beta client work with a purchased account when the game hits release?
Can we expect to fight against Zec, Shelt, and other developers in the beta?

When will the beta testing start?

The first phase of the closed beta started January 25th 2010.

Where do I sign up for the beta test?

On the front page you should see a picture where the Alchemist is holding up a sign saying "Sign Up for BETA".

You can either click that sign to be redirected, or go to the following URL:
http://www.bloodlinechampions.com/beta_signup.php

You will get a confirmation mail with a confirmation code and a link. Those are for confirming your beta sign up and you click the link and confirm your sign up with the supplied confirmation code. There will be no mail confirming that you have confirmed your beta sign up. :p

Do you have a guesstimate about when you will have US servers up?

No, but we will make sure to tell you when we know.

How often can we expect to see patches after release?

There will be minor patches all the time to fix bugs and minor balance issues. Larger patches, including new content, will come from time to time. We cannot say how often as there is a lot of factors that we have to take into consideration before we can give out any details regarding exact dates of a larger patch.

How many Bloodlines will you provide at the release and how frequently do you plan to release new Bloodlines?

We can't say an exact number but we are always working on new Bloodlines and we will keep making new ones. It will most likely be more than twelve as is currently stated on the web page. That information should be updated before the release of the game.

What sales model will Bloodline Champions use?

The game will be a Buy to Play game with no periodic costs.

Continuous updates will be made available for the players, but there will also be optional Expansion Packs that are not required to play the game.

There will most probably be a free Demo available as well.