At GDC I got a chance to sit down with a couple of the fine fellows at S2 Games to take a look at the sequel to Savage: The Battle for Newerth, the innovative title that mixed together elements of RTS and FPS to create a new, dynamic experience that catered to the tastes of a large range of online gamers. One player took the role of the commander, issuing orders to the troops in the field, who battled it out in real time combat.

The formula worked to an extent, but there were several flaws in the game that kept it from being all that the concept promised. During the meeting, S2's Jason Morales and Jesse Hayes detailed how they attacked the problems of the first title and improved upon it while creating the upcoming sequel, Savage 2: A Tortured Soul.

Assholes: The Online Plague

One of the main issues I had with the original game was one that plagues many online games. Assholes. Nothing can ruin a good online game like griefers, and doubly so in Savage, where communication between the commander and the troops on the field is paramount to success. The original title gave the role of commander to whoever hit the button first. As you can probably imagine, there are some really fast jerks out there. When the first message you receive from the guy running the show is, "Dance my little puppets! Dance for me!" you know you're in trouble.

Savage 2 addresses the problem of griefers with a two-pronged solution. First off, commanders are now voted for instead of leaving it up to reflexes. It makes sense, since you'd ideally want the guys with good reflexes out on the field in the first place. As for general griefers, S2 is implementing a karma system, where good players will accrue good karma over time, leading up to minimum karma score servers, where you can be relatively sure you're playing with folks who care about winning and teamwork over how many times they can type the word 'poop' in five minutes.

The Learning Curve

Learning a new online game can be a truly humiliating experience. While the rest of the team takes up the task like a well-oiled machine, you're left sitting there, trying to figure out which buttons do what. There is a certain breed of veteran gamer that enjoys teasing, ridiculing, and downright insulting players without as much skill as they supposedly have. I experienced this when I first launched Savage the first, having picked up the game months after release. It was so bad that I nearly didn't play again after the first time.

Luckily for me, Savage 2 is coming with a single player tutorial that familiarizes players with the game controls and interface, allowing players to test the waters before diving right in to a full-fledged online battle, as well as a practice mode that lets you take units for a spin in battles against NOC opponents. On top of that, players will be able to utilize experience level matchmaking, ensuring that most or all of the people you play with are just as clueless as you are.

Power to the Players

The goal of the original game was to take an RTS game and make it completely player driven, and for the most part they succeeded, but then there were those pesky NPC workers, running around gathering resources. S2 has done away with those completely this go round, making resource gathering the job of the players on the fear. Don't worry though...instead of running back and forth endlessly, the player only needs build a collector at a resource point to get things started, and then defend them of course. Players are also fully responsible for building new structures now, which leads me back to...

Resources and Decay

In Savage 2, buildings now require upkeep to keep them in working order. As long as the gold keeps flowing, your buildings will keep producing. Once the upkeep begins to falter, the buildings begin to decay. This new mechanic essentially prevents turtling, or keeping all of your forces at the base not to win, but to keep the other team from doing so. Now your enemy just has to take your resource points and wait, adding a whole new strategy element to the game.

Putting the Soul in A Tortured Soul

Savage 2 introduces a new race, playable by both sides of the conflict, called the Hellbourne. As players kill NPCs and members of the opposing team, they will gain souls. Your side must first wrest a "Scar" from high-level demon guards, and then build a sacrificial shrine atop the scar. Players can then spend souls to become super-powerful Hellbourne units, capable of making even the most stalwart of units soil their britches.

Community is Key

Any completely online game thrives or dies based on the strength of its community, and S2 plans on treating its already fiercely loyal community right. On top of the expected stat-tracking for players and clans, there will be a fully automated tournament / ladder system integrated with the game, as well as custom website tools to allow clans to have their own highly customizable web pages. What I found most exciting was their intention to have the data from any game of Savage 2 played available for download. While I have to repeat that this is something they really want to do and not a confirmed feature, it would be an invaluable tool from the standpoint of guild recruiting, strategy building, or simply learning how the game is played from the POV of a more experienced player.

The Way A Sequel Should Be Done

I'm extremely excited about the potential of Savage 2: A Tortured Soul, mainly because every single gripe I had regarding the original game has been completely done away with. It is a textbook example of how to make a successful sequel. Take what people loved from the previous game, fix what they hate, and then bring in new ideas that serve to enhance gameplay without changing it completely. Michael Fahey

S2 Games - Savage 2 Website, free download of Savage 1