In 2004, the Matrix will become a reality as gamers everywhere log into The Matrix Online to continue the saga of the Matrix movie trilogy.

Players of The Matrix Online (Mx0) will inhabit an enormous urban sprawl, which spreads for miles in all directions. There are subways, nightclubs, skyscrapers, and dark alleys that all seem normal on the surface, but beneath this pedestrian exterior, a secret war is being waged for the survival of humanity and machine alike. Here, you and many operatives like yourself, will determine who shall inherit the earth.

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- The Spy Ability Tree

Spy Abilities

"I think I'd like a stealth ability where you can hide yourself in code, if you will. Makes it harder for agents to track you and easier to sneak up on people."

--LohanCross

Subterfuge, misdirection, espionage... this is the focus of the Spy Ability Tree.

A character with Spy abilities can sneak past the guards, disable the security system, crack open the vault, disguise themselves as an office worker, and then walk out the front door. Oh and if they need to, they can perform devastating sneak attacks.

As if this wasn't enough, the Spy abilities also include "Tap Data Node". Some of you might recall reading about this in my previous article on non-combat game play options. Spies are the masters of Information gathering, and tapping Data Nodes is the single fastest way to acquire it.

Lets take a look at some specific Spy abilities.

Disguise - Disguising one's self in the Matrix is far more than changing clothes, or putting on a fake moustache. Characters with the Disguise Ability can make themselves physically appear as an NPC. The actual disguise is determined by the specific disguise mask used. (Note that the character in the new Spy themed wallpaper is wearing a disguise mask.)

Twistflip Escape - The character leaps backwards, as if doing a back flip. At the same time, the player spins to the left. Also known as a full gainer twist, this move can be used to evade just about anything. Target is Stunned and Confused for 10 seconds while the character escapes from combat.

Freedom to Joints - In this sneak attack, the attacker comes up behind the opponent and places them in an arm bar. Once the shoulder is snapped, the attacker proceeds to place the opponent into the chicken wing position, snapping the rest of the shoulder joint. Finally, the attacker gets his opponent into the last hold, the shoulder lock, where he extends the arm outward, which not only destroys the rest of the shoulder joint, but also breaks the joints in the elbows. The opponent falls to the ground with one arm in good condition, while the other flails lifelessly.

Lastly, I'd like to apologize for the delay in getting this article to you guys. Although I'd like nothing better than to hang out here and write articles, I have to, you know, make sure the game is finished on time. :-) That said, with the transition of the site, our goal is to have a more direct (and frequent) line to the community. Thanks for you patience, and as always, please let me hear your thoughts and concerns in the forums.

--Auberon

- The Hacker Ability Tree

Hacker Abilities

"In the movies, ingested "code" affected the individual. What of being able to write code to affect or infect other players, either positively or negatively. You don't have to eat in the game, but an injection could be given, etc. or maybe even simulated visual input could have an effect, like encoded strobe light."

--gupyuson

Your wish is my command. Hacking is a big part of the Matrix and we knew from the start that we wanted to incorporate hacking into MxO game play. But since all of our game play takes place inside the Matrix, we needed to allow for a way for people to hack from inside the Matrix. Unfortunately, this ruled out the Operators as playable characters.

The answer, as usual, was in the films. On close reading of the scripts, we realized that hacking the Matrix code happened all the time. Neo, of course, had the unique ability to reshape the code with sheer will. But even something like the "bug extractor" that Trinity used on Neo was in fact a visual metaphor for an anti-virus program.

Armed with this information, we worked with the Wachowski brothers and came up with the notion of Programs.

A Program is a kind of Ability that directly manipulates the Matrix code. Programs are a big part of the Hacker Abilities. Here are some samples of Viruses (harmful Programs), and Upgrades (helpful Programs).

Viruses

Buffer Overflow: fills the targets buffer with bogus data

Logic Bomb: disrupts the target's RSI, causing them damage

Vision Disruption: creates blindness in the target

Upgrades

Anti-Viral Sweep: attempts to remove any viruses affecting the target

Overclock: speeds up the processes controlling a character, granting them bonuses

Signal Bounce: grants an additional layer of signal protection to the target

Of course, there are a lot more programs than are listed here, but this gives you some insight into the kind of functionality that Programs enable.

Another major branch of the Hacker Ability tree is devoted to Writing Code (read the Non-combat Gameplay article for more on Writing Code).

And of course, there is the Ability to actually hack into computers in the Matrix (in order to find Code and Information).

But that's just a taste of what is available in MxO. Stay tuned and I'll go over the third major Ability tree.

--Auberon

2004.01.07 - The Soldier Ability Tree

The Soldier Ability Tree

"Why don't we start with something a little fun?combat training"

Last month we described some non-combat activities available in MxO. To balance things out a bit, I thought we would go over the most combat oriented ability tree in the game: Soldier abilities. (Abilities are the basic building blocks that player's use to outfit their character.)

Soldier abilities are for the action junkies of the world. These abilities focus on combat, maneuvering, and other kinds of physical action. Advanced Soldier abilities allow characters to perform superhuman feats like bullet-time maneuvers, and jumping across an entire street.

A character equipped with the appropriate Soldier abilities can be effective alone or in a group. They are the heavy hitters in a mission team able to absorb the most damage, and dish it out in turn.

Accordingly, characters with strong Soldier abilities are the most effective combatants in a straight-up fight. Their various abilities allow them to specialize in certain kinds of weapons and techniques, or maintain a broader understanding of many different kinds of warfare.

"It would be very cool to see some "high level" ability codes that change the way you move during a gunfight."

-NastyJay

Good point, NastyJay. But before I can touch on that comment, I want to discuss some of the basics. The Soldier ability tree contains three types of martial arts, and three types of firearm abilities. These are described below:

Martial Arts

Aikido: a defensive style with lots of grabs and throws

Karate: a powerful style with strong punches and kicks

Kung Fu: a fast style with a variety of graceful strikes and circular movement

Firearms

Handgun: proficiency with revolvers and semi-automatic pistols

Submachine Gun: proficiency with small caliber automatic weapons

Rifle: proficiency with shotguns and assault rifles

In addition, these abilities lead to more advanced versions and "special maneuvers" that allow players to perform even more devastating attacks.

Here is the description of a special move branched off of the Handgun ability.

Pistol Evasive - Character performs a one-handed cartwheel while firing. A bonus to defense is enjoyed for a number of combat rounds in addition to the damage inflicted on the opponent during the special maneuver.

So there you go, NastyJay. Coming soon, I'll continue the descriptions of the other ability trees. Talk to you soon.

--Auberon

2003.11.25 - Non-Combat Gameplay Options
Non-Combat Gameplay Options in MxO

First of all, I want to thank everyone for getting our forums off to a great start. Geiger has been working overtime to get this site working, and we?re all very excited here at Monolith to finally get the dialogue with you folks started.

?There has been lots of discussion regarding combat oriented Ability Code but what are your ideas / thoughts on the non-combat oriented ability code??

--actionjack7

This is a great question. I?ve seen a lot of people asking this and I?m happy to say that there will be several non-combat gameplay options.

The first one I?d like to describe is Writing Code. Now I?m not talking about actually writing code in C++ or anything like that. In the MxO, Writing Code is an activity that players can perform in the Matrix and it is analogous to crafting in other MMP games.

You see, everything in the Matrix is Code: weapons, clothing, and even abilities. So characters who can write code can, given the required resources and ability levels, create nearly any item or ability in the game.

Now, there is a lot more to Writing Code, but it?s a pretty meaty topic and I want to describe another non-combat gameplay activity. Let?s talk about Information.

Talking with the Wachowski brothers, it was clear that they didn?t want players acquiring money during their missions. After all, what good is cash in a world where the rules don?t apply to you?

Instead, they offered that Information is the only true currency in the Matrix. The Oracle offers it, The Merovingian covets it, and the Architect lords it over Neo like a scepter.

In the Matrix Online, we?ve adapted the notion of Information so that it can provide the liquidity for the player-run economy.

If you know where to look, you can ?tap? into the data flow of the Matrix and gather Information to trade with other players. Locating and tapping data is not an easy task and requires its own set of abilities and tools to accomplish successfully. But the payoff can be enormous. If a fat data node is located and tapped, a veritable gusher of Information is made available to the enterprising player.

But the Matrix doesn't sit idly, and allow all of its lifeblood to be captured. It is an adaptable, self-correcting system and will reroute its data if it detects a snooper. In egregious situations, the Matrix will act to destroy the parasite. So don?t say you weren?t warned!

Ok, we?re just scraping the surface here but I have to wrap this up. In the future, I hope we can delve further into these and other topics. As always, please visit the forums and let us know what you think!

--Auberon

2003.10.31 - Introduction - Toby Ragaini
Hello everyone. My name is Toby Ragaini (aka Auberon) and I am the MMP creative director at Monolith and the lead designer on The Matrix Online.

On behalf of everyone involved in this project, I would like to welcome you to The Matrix Online community website.

For me, working on The Matrix Online has been a dream come true. When the folks at Monolith asked me what property would be best suited to an MMP, my answer was obvious. The Matrix is a natural fit for an MMP, because the Matrix IS an MMP.

But at the time, this seemed like idle daydreaming. Clearly some big corporate publisher would get the rights to the license. There was just no way a small, independent developer like Monolith could secure the rights. Stuff like that just doesn?t happen, right?

Wrong. A few months later, I was anxiously sitting in a waiting room, ready to pitch the game proposal to Larry and Andy Wachowski, the writers and directors of the Matrix films.

And the biggest miracle of all? They liked it. In fact, the Brothers had already been envisioning something very similar to our proposal. You see, they?re gamers and they understood everything we were describing, and then some.

Most licensing deals rehash content that?s already been depicted in a movie or on TV. But the Brothers are beyond that. They view each Matrix product as part of the Matrix continuum and create stories that uniquely suit each medium.

In this case, they recognized that they would be turning over to their fans the very world that they created.

In the coming months, we?re going to be exploring a lot of ideas here. We?ll be asking questions, taking polls, and making announcements. But our single biggest priority here is listening to you.

Why? Because we recognize that you?re the experts here. You know what kind of game you want to play, and it is our responsibility to bring that game to life.

But remember, we can only show you the door. You're the one who has to walk through it.